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Semitic  Nations, 


BY 


D.  CHWOLSON, 

ORD.  PROF.  AT  THE  IMP.  UNIVERSITY  or  ST.  PETERSBURG. 


TRANSLATED   BY   EPH.  M.  EPSTEIN,  M.  D. 


BLOCH  A  CO.,  PUBLISHERS  AND  PRINTERS, 
CINCINNATI,  O. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1874,  by  BLOCH  &  CO. 
in  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington. 


STACK 


THE  SEMITIC  NATIONS, 


In  studying  the  histories  of  different  nations  and  re- 
flecting upon  their  mental  products,  their  endeavors, 
aims  and  ideals,  the  question  arises :  Why  has  this  or 
that  nation  acted  so  and  so  and  not  otherwise,  why  has 
it  pursued  such  and  such  aims,  why  has  it  brought  forth 
such  and  such  mental  products,  while  another  nation 
acted  altogether  differently,  strived  after  something  alto- 
gether different,  and  produced  something  altogether  dif- 
ferent '.'  W herein  lie  the  causes  of  these  different  and  of- 
ten opposite  tendencies  ?  Accident  this  cannot  be,  for 
there  are  no  accidents.  All  that  comes  to  pass,  is  a 
necessary  result  of  a  foregoing  cause.  Shortsightedness 
alone  sees  the  reign  of  chance  in  small  and,  at  times, 
even  in  great  events.  Let  us,  who  occupy  ourselves  with 
historical  studies,  t.  e.  with  the  natural  history  of  spirit- 
ual man,  follow  the  example  of  natural  historians,  who 
inquire  after  the  causes  of  every  phenomenon,  and  hence 
arrive  at  the  establishment  of  general  laws,  of  which 
these  phenomena  are  to  be  regarded  as  necessary  results. 
Contemplating  thus  more  closely  upon  the  varied  phe- 
nomena in  the  history  of  nations,  we  too,  perhaps,  may 
succeed  in  discovering  some  general  laws  pertaining  to 
their  varied  characters,  of  which  these  historical  phe- 
nomena are  to  be  regarded  as  their  necessary  results. 

Wherein  then  lie  the  causes  and  motives  of  those  he- 
terogeneous actions  and  endeavors  of  the  nations? 

Some  say,  in  Religion;  this,  they  say,  has  put  a  defi- 
nite stamp  upon  the  character  of  every  nation,  and  guid- 
ed its  actions.  But  this  is  not  true,  for  two  reasons. 

THK  LIBRARY 
OF 


4  THE    SEMITIC   NATIONS. 

For  in  the  first  place  we  find,  that  one  and  the  same  re- 
ligion produced  different  effects  in  different  nations,  and 
in  the  second  place  we  see,  that  one  and  the  same  relig- 
ion assumed  different  forms  in  different  nations.  The 
beneficent  and  ennobling  influence  of  Christianity,  was 
by  far  the  greater  upon  the  so  called  barbaric  northern 
nations,  than  upon  the  cultivated  nations  of  the  ancient 
world.  Had  not  Christianity  imparted  a  moral  stamina 
to  those  northern  nations,  they  would  have  been  morally 
ruined  and  physically  weakened  as  they  advanced  upon 
the  corrupted  cultured  countries  of  the  south.  It  is 
through  Christianity,  in  preserving  those  nations  morally 
and  physically,  that  our  modern  culture  was  made  possi- 
ble. But  the  influence  of  Christianity  upon  the  cultured 
nations  of  antiquity,  was  by  far  less  beneficent,  and  al- 
though it  has  not  destroyed  that  ancient  culture,  as  some 
historians  maintain,  still  has  it  certainly  hastened  the 
fall  of  it,  because  the  main  principles  of  Christianity  are 
characteristically'  antagonistic  to  the  specifically  heathen 
culture  of  antiquity.  The  same  can  be  said  of  Moham- 
medanism and  Buddhism,  for  these  religions  too  have 
exerted  totally  different  influences  upon  different  nations. 
Every  religion,  which  springs  up  in  a  civilized,  or  even 
in  a  semi-civilized  nation,  is  the  product  of  a  new  form 
of  civilization  ;  represents  always  a  new  beneficent  idea  ; 
but  how  a  nation  understands  and  practically  utilizes 
that  new  idea  and  form  of  civilization,  depends  chiefly 
upon  the  character  of  the  nation,  which  has  accepted 
this  new  religion.  It  is  not  merely  the  seed  sown  that 
is  of  importance,  but  chiefly  the  soil  in  which  it  is  put. 
On  the  other  hand  we  see  also  the  same  religion  as- 
suming among  different  nations  a  totally  different  form 
and  character,  so  that  at  times  it  seems  incredible,  that 
one  and  the  same  idea  should  manifest  itself  in  such  dif- 
ferent ways.  I  will  not  point  out  here  the  different 
forms  merely  of  Christianity  in  the  Orthodox  ( Greek,) 
Catholic,  Protestant,  Nestorian,  Jacobite,  and  Abyssi- 
nian churches  ;  we  see  that  one  and  the  same  form  even, 
assumed  a  different  character  among  different  nations. 
The  oriental  orthodox  church  among  the  Slavic  nations, 
has  a  partially  different  character  from  what  it  has  among 
the  Greeks ;  the  character  of  the  Catholicism  of  Italy, 
differs  very  much  from  the  Catholicism  of  Germany,  and 


THE  SEMITIC    NATIONS.  5 

this  again  differs  from  that  of  France,  and  this  lastly 
differs  from  the  Catholicism  of  the  Spanish  nation.  So 
Mohammedanism  aUo  assumed  a  totally  different  form 
among  the  Persians  fnun  what  it  has  done  among  the 
Arahs.  \Ve  shall  n-vert  to  this  point  again.  On  the 
other  hand  we  notice  also,  that  similar  religious  tenden- 
cies and  institutions  develop  themselves  among  kindred 
nations,  who  proless  different  religions,  which  are  based 
on  different  and  even  op|>osite  principles.  Of  this  we 
will  adduce  striking  examples  further  on.  Religion, 
therefore,  though  we  admit  its  great  influence  uncondi- 
tionally, does  nevertheless  not  determine  absolutely  the 
character  of  a  people,  but,  on  the  contrary  is  itself  modi- 
fied and  transformed  by  the  views  and  innate  inclina- 
tions of  the  people  professing  that  religion.  t 

L<iirx  <nul  xtafe  irvftUutions,  say  others,  have  exerted 
the  greatest  influence  upon  nations,  and  determined 
their  characters.  Nations,  they  say  further,  develop 
themselves  differently  in  countries  where  we  find  liberal 
institutions,  and  differently  in  countries  where  the  free 
movement  and  self-direction  of  the  individual  is  hemmed 
in  by  restrictive  regulations  ;  and  lastly  they  say,  the  de- 
velopment of  a  nation  is  different  in  autocratic,  in  con- 
stitutional and  republican  states.  But  at  the  basis  of 
this  assumption,  there  is  a  confounding  of  effects  with 
their  causes.  It  is  just  the  very  question :  Why  have 
such  and  such  laws  and  state  institutions  developed  them- 
selves in  one  nation,  and  other  and  even  opposite  ones  in 
another  nation  ?  Why  has  a  mighty  aristocracy  formed 
itself  in  one  nation,  a  democracy  in  another,  a  state  au- 
tocracy in  one,  a  tightly  drawn  centralization  in  another, 
restrictive  laws  in  one,  and  perfect  freedom  of  the  indi- 
vidual in  the  other?  We  observe  here  too  the  same  phe- 
nomenon, which  we  did  in  religion,  viz.,  that  the  same 
laws  and  state  institutions  which  are  productive  of  the 
happiest  effects  in  one  nation,  may  conduce  to  the  utter 
destruction  of  another  nation.  Do  we  not  see  that  those 
very  free  institutions,  which  brought  the  Anglo-saxou 
race  to  the  highest  flourishing  state,  served  the  Spanish 
race  only  to  its  destruction,  and  resulted  in  confusion 
and  anarchy?  Thus  we  see  that  the  autonomy,  which  in 
one  nation  promotes  the  prosperity  of  the  individual  and 
establishes  a  true  freedom,  only  multiplies  tyrrany  and 


6  THE    SEMITIC    NATIONS. 

arbitrary  rule  in  another  nation.  Here  too  then,  the  im- 
portant point  is  chiefly  the  soil,  in  which  the  seed  was 
sown. 

Another  erroneous  assumption  was  advanced  more  re- 
cently, and  has  found  many  adherents.  It  was  maintain- 
ed, that  the  climate,  the  constitution  of  soil,  and  the  geo- 
graphical situation  of  countries  have  conditioned  and  de- 
termined the  lot  and  the  actions  of  their  nations.  The 
chief  promulgator  of  this  view,  is  the  well-known  Eng- 
lishman Buckle,  whose  doctrines  were  regarded  in  a 
measure  as  a  new  scientific  revelation.  This  doctrine  has 
apparently  much  in  its  favor,  but  is  nevertheless,  accord- 
ing to  my  conviction,  fundamentally  false.  It  is  evident 
enough,  that  inhabitants  of  an  inland  country  can  not  be- 
come navigators,  but  that  those  of  a  coast  or  island  will 
become  sucn,  more  or  less;  that  inhabitants  of  a  widely 
extended  plain,  where  there  are  no  minerals  and  no  mines, 
will  betake  themselves  to  cattle  raising  and  lead  a  no- 
madic life,  while  the  inhabitants  of  mountain  regions 
will  adopt  a  more  settled  life;  that  finally  the  self-pre- 
serving instinct  will  drive  the  inhabitants  of  a  cold  and 
unfruitful  land  to  activity,  while  the  South  sea  islander, 
who  can  satisfy  his  wants  with  a  few  easily  gotten  fruits, 
will  spend  the  best  part  of  his  life  in  idleness.  But  this 
is  only  appearance  and  deception,  the  result  of  confound- 
ing the  mode  how  the  character  of  a  nation  manifests  it- 
self, with  the  real  character  of  the  same ;  for  climate,  soil, 
and  geographical  situation  of  countries,  are  only  condi- 
tions of  the  way  in  which  the  character  of  a  nation  mani- 
fests itself;  nay,  they  even  impart  to  the  character  its  pe- 
culiar individual  stamp,  but  they  do  not  create  that  char- 
acter. 

Navigation  does  not  form  the  character  of  the 
English  people,  but  is  only  a  mode,  a  manifestation  of  the 
enterprising  spirit,  which  characterizes  that  people.  If 
Englishmen  lived  in  an  inland  country,  they  would  mani- 
fest their  enterprising  spirit  in  a  different  way.  English- 
men and  North  Americans  are  active  and  enterprising  in 
South  America  and  the  South  sea  islands;  but  South 
Americans  and  South  sea  islanders  would  be  as  lazy  in 
England  and  North  America  as  they  now  are.  What 
was  said  here,  can  be  demonstrated  by  countless  instances, 
where  different  nations  inhabited  successively  the  same 


THE  SEMITIC   NATIONS.  7 

country  and  played  quite  different  parts  in  the  history  of 
the  world.  Take  Egypt  as  an  example.  This  elongated 
narrow  strip  of  land,  closed  in  by  deserts  on  the  east  and 
west,  anil  traversed  by  a  mighty  stream,  presents  by  its 
situation,  its  immense  fertility,  and  its  yearly  recurring 
innundation,  a  decidedly  expressed  physiognomy  which  is 
peculiar  to  itself;  and  yet,  what  a  neavenwide  difference 
between  the  Pharaonic  and  the  Mohammedan  Egyptians ! 
What  a  prosperity,  what  a  power,  what  an  enterprise, 
and  what  a  high  development  of  the  arts  in  its  days  of 
yore,  and  what  a  misery,  what  a  poverty,  and  what  an 
insignificance  in  its  later  days  !  What  have  the  ancient 
Egyptians  not  done  in  culture  and  art,  and  what  have  the 
Egyptians  of  the  Caliphs,  the  Alides,  the  Mamelukes  and 
the  Turks  done,  invented  or  accomplished?  The  form- 
er have  built  the  pyramids,  those  astounding  structures, 
the  objects  of  admiration  for  thousands  of  years;  they 
created  mighty  works  of  art,  channeling  the  whole  land  ; 
invented  the  art  of  writing,  studied  astronomy,  mathe- 
matics, and  medicine;  the  later  Egyptians  plundered  the 
pyramids  and  the  magnificent  graves  of  the  ancient 
kings,  destroyed  the  works  of  architecture  and  art, 
neglected  the  canalization  of  the  land,  and — studied  the 
Koran  and  its  commentaries ! 

A  little  further  north  of  Egypt,  there  lived  a  small  na- 
tion on  the  eastern  coast  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  who 
owned  a  small  strip  of  land,  not  larger  than  about  fifty  by 
a  half  or  one  miles,  and  how  great  was  that  small  nation? 
Its  industry  was  the  vastest  one  of  antiquity,  its  ships 
plowed  all  the  then  known  seas,  and  its  colonies  and  mer- 
cantile stations  extended  from  India  to  the  Atlantic  coast, 
and  from  southern  Arabia  to  the  Caucasian  mountains. 
Its  fleets  often  vied  with  those  of  Greece  in  its  prime, 
and  in  the  ranks  of  its  armies  were  found  Persians  from 
the  distant  east,  as  well  as  men  from  Asia  minor  and 
Africa.  We  speak  here  of  the  Phoenicians,  whose  mer- 
chants the  prophets  call  "Princes"  and  "  the  honorable 
of  the  land."  But,  yes,  says  some  one,  the  Phoenicians 
had  nothing  to  eat  in  their  small  land,  and  so  were  com- 
iKilled  to  seek  their  subsistence  by  means  of  navigation. 
To  this  we  answer  :  that  neither  have  the  Mohammedan 
inhabitants  of  that  land,  in  later  times,  enjoyed  any  too 
great  abundance  of  food,  and  yet  they  stayed  at  home, 


THE   SEMITIC   NATIONS. 

and  rather  preferred  to  study  their  Mohammedan  tradi- 
tions concerning  the  relation  of  their  prophet  Mohammed 
to  hi.s  numerous  wives  and  female  slaves,  or  busied  them- 
selves with  questions  of  similar  import. 

Almost  on  the  very  spot  where  once  Carthage  was, 
stands  now  Tunis,  but  where  are  now  the  Tunensian 
Hannibals,  Hasdrubals,  and  Hamilcars?  Where  are  now 
the  Tunensian  fleets,  which  made  the  Mediterranean  in- 
stinct with  life?  Lastly,  where  are  now  the  Tunensian 
armies,  who  traversed  the  Alps,  and  brought  mighty 
Rome  frequently  to  the  brink  of  destruction?  All  these 
exist  no  longer  on  the  soil  of  ancient  Carthage;  but  in- 
stead of  these,  there  is  a  pitiable  Bey,  who  does  not 
Say  his  debts,  and  whose  Hannibals  and  Suffets  study 
iligently  Beidhawis'  commentary  on  the  Koran,  or  learn 
by  rote  the  Arabic  grammar  composed  in  verse  by  Ibn 
Malik. 

One  more  example:  The  ancient  Phoenicians  settled 
early  in  Spain,  founded  there  a  mighty  colony,  whence 
their  war-fleets,  their  armies,  and  colonies  were  sent  out 
in  all  directions.  Of  their  vast  mining  operations  we 
have  yestigesyet  to  this  day.  The  old  Basques  in  Spain, 
were  brave,  obstinate,  and  self-willed,  as  they  are  to  this 
day,  and  although  not  altogether  without  culture,  still 
have  they  not  accomplished  anything  near  that,  which 
their  neighbors  the  Phoanicians  have.  Later  on,  there 
lived  in  Spain  the  Goths  and  the  Arabs  together;  yet 
how  different  was  the  degree  of  culture,  the  mental  and 
religious  tendencies  of  these  two  nations,  while  they  have 
yet  lived  together,  and  even  after  the  former  expelled 
the  latter  from  the  land.  Yes,  it  is  Spain,  which  offers 
the  most  striking  evidence  of  the  futility  of  that  theory, 
that  climate  and  soil  have  a  decided  influence  upon  the 
inhabitants  of  a  country.  No  land  in  Europe,  says 
Buckle,  is  so  like  the  tropics  as  Spain.  But,  says  he, 
there  prevails  in  that  land  a  mode  of  regarding  nature, 
which  inflaming  the  fancy  of  men,  promotes  their  super- 
stition and  frightens  them  away  from  investigating  such 
threatening  phenomena,  in  other  words  prevents  them 
from  the  creation  of  science.  No  other  part  of  Europe, 
he  says  farther,  is  so  designed  by  nature  to  become  the 
seat  and  refuge  of  superstition  as  Spain.  In  reference  to 
this  assertion,  a  man  of  genius  and  deep  thought,  Geiger, 


THE   SEMITIC   NATIONS.  9 

asked  some  years  ago  already:  "  How  does  it  happen, 
that  that  same  Spain,  which  according  to  Buckle,  must 
by  a  natural  necessity  fall  very  low,  should  in  spite  of  its 
droughts  and  earthquakes  and  enfeebling  heat,  yet  have 
flourished  so  highly  under  the  Arabs?  While  science 
and  arts  were  almost  wholly  banished  in  the  Middle 
Ages  from  its  neighboring  kingdoms,  they  found  their 
richest  cultivators  just  in  Spain;  cheerful  poetry  and 
deeply  penetrating  keen  research  exalted  the  soul,  force 
and  grace  ennobled  industry,  and  everything  that  pro- 
moted the  .welfare  of  society  found  there  the  greatest  care. 
Mohammedans  and  Jews  distinguished  themselves  by  lof- 
tiness and  clearness  of  spirit,  and  even  kindled  many  a 
spark  in  Christian  Spaniards,  etc.  After  the  Moors  were 
banished  from  Spain,  then  its  former  flourishing  agricul- 
ture fell  to  decay,  so  that  entire  tracks  of  country,  which 
were  formerly  in  the  most  flourishing  condition,  became 
almost  total  deserts,  and  are  even  so  in  part  to  this  day. 
With  the  expulsion  of  the  Jews  from  bpain,  there  van- 
ished industry,  commerce,  and  enterprise,  so  that  many 
cities  became  insignificant  and  uninhabited.  Yes,  this 
expulsion  of  the  Jews,  was  in  part  the  cause  of  the  moral 
decay  of  the  country;  for  the  high  rise  of  Spanish  litera- 
ture in  the  fifteenth  century,  originated  for  its  greatest 
part  from  the  Jews,  who  in  consequence  of  the  terrible 
persecutions  at  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century,  went 
over  in  masses  to  Christianity,  and,  according  to  the 
Spanish  literary  historian  Amados  del  Rios,  brought 
Spanish  literature  to  its  highest  state  of  prosperity.  Nay 
more,  after  the  departure  of  the  Jews  from  Spain,  there 
•were  entire  districts  without  any  physician,  so  that  peo- 
ple were  obliged  to  invite  physicians  from  abroad  and 
pay  them  high  annual  salaries.  How  then  does  it  hap- 
pen, that  of  two  races,  who  lived  under  the  very  same 
climatic  conditions,  the  one  should  distinguish  itself  in 
art,  |>oetry,  and  science,  and  the  other  should  equally 
distinguish  itself  in  mental  stupidity,  narrow  mindedness 
and  laziness-?  The  causes  of  this  mental  difference  can 
evidently  not  lie  in  the  climate,  soil,  and  geographical  sit- 
untion  of  the  country,  but  must  be  sought  somewhere  else. 
Where  then  do  the  determinative  causes  lie,  in  conse- 
quence of  which,  one  nation,  under  given  conditions,  be- 
comes so  and  so  cultivated,  acts  so  and  so  under  given 


10  THE   SEMITIC   NATIONS. 

circumstances,  while  another  nation,  under  equal  con- 
ditions and  circumstances  becomes  differently  cultivated 
and  acts  differently?  In  order  to  answer  this  question, 
we  will  pursue  the  path  of  natural  historians,  who  main- 
tain, that  the  whole  can  not  be  understood  before  the  in- 
dividual parts  are  examined  and  thoroughly  searched 
through.  Let  us,  therefore,  turn  our  look  away  from  the 
nations,  and  direct  it  to  the  single  individuals  of  them. 

Not  only  individual  nations,  but  individual  men  too, 
differ  in  their  views,  conceptions,  moral  inclinations  and 
actions.  This  we  have  occasion  to  observe  daily,  and 
here  too  the  question,  why  is  it  so,  is  perfectly  justifiable. 
In  times  past  it  was  believed  by  some,  that  man  comes 
into  the  world  a  perfect  tabula  rasa,  and  that  it  were  pos- 
sible to  make  any  thing  you  please  of  him  by  education. 
There  is  no  need  of  bringing  up  evidences  against  the 
radical  falseness  of  this  view.  We  meet  daily  with  in- 
dividuals, who  have  enjoyed  the  best  education,  who  have 
had  the  best  of  examples  before  them,  yet  who  have 
turned  out  the  most  vicious  reprobates,  and  on  the  other 
hand,  the  instances  are  frequent  also,  of  persons,  who 
have  had  no  education,  or  a  very  bad  one,  and  who  had 
bad  examples  before  them,  and  who  have  turned  out  to 
be  excellent  and  virtuous  individuals.  Religion,  climate, 
education,  and  social  standing  can  certainly  not  explain 
these  phenomena  ;  for  we  observe  those  differences  taking 
place  among  the  different  members  of  the  same  family, 
who  live  together.  Religion,  climate,  etc.,  are,  therefore, 
only  the  conditions  of  the  form,  by  which  the  character 
of  the  individual  manifests  itself  outwardly.  The  main 
thing  is,  the  inborn  character  of  the  individual,  which  to  a 
certain  degree  can,  indeed,  be  mollified  and  modified  but 
can  not  be  either  created  or  destroyed  by  any  thing. 

With  the  same  character,  with  which  the  individual 
human  being  is  born,  with  the  same  he  descends  into  the 
grave.  The  kindly  disposed  does  not  become  ill-disposed, 
the  judicious  does  not  become  thoughtless,  the  firm  does 
not  become  instable,  the  stingy  does  not  become  benevo- 
lent, etc.  By  education  one  may  acquire  knowledge, 
good  or  bad  views  and  opinions  and  prejudices,  which 
will  of  course  have  their  influence  upon  his  actions,  but 
his  native  character  and  inclinations,  these  can  not 
change  essentially.  Age  and  education  may,  indeed, 


THE   SEMITIC    NATIONS.  11 

soften  and  modify  also,  to  an  extent,  this  or  that  trait  of 
the  character,  but  it  itself  they  can  not  radically  recon- 
struct. Social  position  may  exert  an  influence  upon  the 
way  how  the  character  manifests  itself  externally,  but  by 
no  means  can  it  change  that  character  itself;  for  when 
the  man  of  the  lower  class  practices  his  cheating  in  the 
second-hand  shop,  or  when  he  of  the  middle  class  swin- 
dles on  the  exchange,  or  as  a  director  of  a  bank,  or  when 
he  of  the  upper  class,  as  governor  of  a  province,  or  head 
of  a  cabinet,  falsifies  public  opinion,  deceives  his  mon- 
arch by  false  representation,  then  all  these  three  do  one 
and  the  same  thing  essentially,  only  under  different  forms, 
which  are  conditioned  by  their  different  social  positions. 
It  is  therefore,  ridiculous  to  exhort  the  vacillating  to  be 
firm  and  persevering,  the  thoughtless  to  be  thoughtful, 
or  the  coward  to  be  courageous,  as  absurd  as  to  exhort 
the  fool  to  be  wise.  The  character  of  a  man,  whatever 
it  be,  can  as  little  change  itself  into  its  opposite,  as  the 
lion  can  change  itself  into  a  horse,  yet,  we  hear  it  often 
said,  that  a  man  should  be  master  of  himself;  this  in- 
deed he  should  be, — if  he  can.  But  the  weak  individ- 
ual can  as  little  do  this,  as  a  child  can  lift  a  heavy  bur- 
den. It  isrsaid  often,  indeed,  that  this  or  that  man  was 
formerly  a  mean  reprobate,  but  has  changed  now,  reform- 
ed, and  became  a  very  excellent  and  noble  man.  But 
this  is  not  true,  this  happens  only  in  novels  and  plays, 
not  in  real  life,  for  the  mean  and  reprobate  man  never 
becomes  noble  or  excellent.  But  this  indeed  may  come 
to  pass,  that  a  man  of  a  dependent  character,  may  by 
associating  with  bad  men,  be  led  to  wickedness,  and  then 
again  by  associating  with  good  and  moral  men,  be  led 
back  to  virtue ;  so  also  another  man,  whose  actions  are 
the  results  of  false  and  demoralizing  doctrines  and  views, 
may  be  reformed  by  proper  instruction. 

We  see,  therefore,  that  the  actions  of  men  are  deter- 
mined chiefly  by  their  native  characters  and  inclinations, 
ami  that  all  other  circumstances  either  have  only  a  sub- 
ordinate influence  upon  them,  or  operate  only  upon  the 
manner  how  the  human  character  shows  itself  externally. 
But  a  nation  consists  of  single  individuals,  and  who  will 
deny,  that  every  nation  has  a  character  peculiar  to  itself, 
more  or  less  sharply  pronounced.  What  is  a  nation  but 
a  great  collective  individuality.  But  every  race  too  coii- 


12  THE   SEMITIC    NATIONS. 

sists  of  a  variety  of  individual  nations  and  no  one  will 
dispute,  that  there  are  characteristic  traits  which  are  pe- 
culiar to  entire  groups  of  nations  and  races.  That  one 
nation  should  have  acted  so  and  so,  and  altogether  differ- 
ently from  what  another  one  did,  that  the  bent  of  mind 
of  one  nation  should  totally  differ  from  that  of  another, 
these  all  proceed  from  the  native  character  and  inclina- 
tions of  the  individual  nation.  All  depends  upon  the 
preponderance  in  that  nation  of  the  mind  over  the  heart, 
or  upon  the  equipoise  of  these  ;  upon  its  intellectual  endow- 
ment or  the  want  of  it,  upon  its  thoughtfulness  or  its 
levity,  upon  its  love  of  order  or  negligence,  its  persever- 
ence  and  patience,  or  its  vacillation  and  fickleness,  upon 
its  enterprise  or  its  inertness,  etc.  These  good  or  bad 
qualities  of  the  nations,  always  determined  their  moral 
and  material  actions,  and  conditioned  their  several  places 
in  the  history  of  the  human  race.  All  other  circum- 
stances had,  indeed,  their  influence,  but  subordinately 
only,  and  determined,  as  above  said,  chiefly  the  mode  of 
the  phenomena.  And  when  individual  great  men  have 
accomplished  great  things,  and  have  transformed  their 
nations,  they  could  do  it,  only  because  they  had  good 
material  to  work  upon,  because  that  material  Was  capable 
of  being  formed  at  all.  With  a  nation  of  Hottentots, 
neither  Alfred  nor  Peter  the  Great  could  have  achieved 
for  their  states  a  historic  importance.  The  best  of  wheat 
can  not.  thrive  in  a  sandy  soil. 

The  character  of  a  nation  is  as  immutable  as  is  that  of 
an  individual ;  the  main  characteristic  traits  of  the 
modern  nations,  were  peculiar  to  their  ancestors  a  thou- 
sand and  even  two  thousand  years  ago.  The  following 
sketch  of  the  character  of  a  certain  nation,  which  1  will 
not  yet  name,  is  given  by  a  spiritual  historian  :  "  In  its 
individual  communities  there  is  a  want  of  harmony,  of 
firm  government,  of  an  earnest  sense  of  citizenship,  and 
of  consequential  endelvor ;  the  only  order  which  they 
brook  is  the  military,  whose  disciplinary  fetters  dispense 
the  individual  from  the  heavy  burden  of  self-restraint. 
Its  prominent  qualities  are :  personal  courage,  a  tree, 
impetuous  mind,  open  to  any  impressions,  much  intelli- 
gence, but  at  the  same  time  extreme  mobility,  want  of 
perseverance,  opposition  to  discipline  and  order,  boast- 
fulness  and  perpetual  contention  as  consequences  of  inor- 


THE   SEMITIC   NATIONS.  13 

dinate  vanity.  Two  things  this  nation  holds  in  great  es- 
teem, viz.,  fighting  and  esprit,  (wit.)  Every  thing  this 
nation  can  turn  into  the  service  of  fame,  even  a  wound, 
which  is  frequently  enlarged  after  it  is  received,  so 
that  it  could  be  boasted  of  with  its  greater  scar.  Of 
duelling  too  they  are  especially  fond," 

Who  might  this  people  be  who  are  thus  described  ? 

Is  it  not  the  French  nation?     Yes,  and  also  no! 

The  dr>rription  is  that  of  the  Gauls  of  the  time  of  Ca- 
millus  and  Julius  Caesar,  and  yet  how  admirably  apt  too 
of  the  modern  Frenchmen  !  The  ancient  Gauls  had  to  be 
sure,  not  yet  had,  that  organized  imperially  patented  de- 
mocracy, no  such  well-appointed  secret  police,  no  men- 
dacious official  press  as  their  posterity  the  modern  French 
have  had  them  until  lately,  through  the  grace  of  an  ad- 
venturer, and  which,  though  in  a  different  form,  they  are 
bound  soon  to  have  again.  But  these  Frenchmen  would 
not  have  been  blessed  with  those  good  things,  were  they 
not  in  many  respects,  even  to  this  day,  alike  to  their  an- 
cestors, the  Gauls. 

Let  us  look  again  at  Spain.  Does  it  not  seem,  that 
Ferdinand  the  Catholic  and  his  successors,  in  their  en- 
deavors to  exterminate  every  kind  of  heresy  from  Spain, 
only  desired  to  continue  the  actions  of  the  Gothic  kings 
Reccared,  Sisebut,  Chintilla,  Receswinth,  etc.  etc.  ?  Does 
it  not  seem  that  those  began  just  there  where  these  end- 
ed, that  they  were  their  immediate  successors  ?  And  yet 
there  is  a  space  of  800  years  between  them,  years  of  most 
arduous  and  bitter  conflicts  with  a  foreign  faith  and  a 
foreign  people,  who  have  conquered  the  whole  country 
nearly,  and  who  established  there  a  new  culture  and  a 
new  civilization,  which  has  had  its  influence  upon  the 
Spaniards  too. 

When  we  turn  to  the  East,  we  find  there  a  people,  who 
in  its  sacred  Scriptures  was  incessantly  admonished  2500 
years  past  not  to  lie;  this  people,  who  needed  that  admo- 
nition very  much,  has  mingled  itself  since  that  time  with 
Greeks,  Arabs,  Turks,  and  Mongolians,  has  also  accepted 
other  religions,  and  yet  it  is  to  this  day  the  most  menda- 
cious of  all  the  nations  of  the  entire  East.  We  speak 
here  of  the  ancient  and  modern  Persians.  Did  not  Cam- 
byses  rage  against  the  temples  and  gods  of  the  ancient 
Egyptians,  did  not  Xerxes  destroy  the  temples  and  altars 


14  THE   SEMITIC   NATIONS. 

of  the  Greeks,  was  not  the  war  of  Darius  Hystaspes 
against  his  predecessor,  the  Magian  Sautaraa,  of  a  relig- 
ious nature?  And  to  this  day,  the  Persians  are  far  more 
fanatical  than  their  co-religionists  the  Arabs. 

If  therefore  the  character  of  a  nation  in  its  main  fea- 
tures remains  constant  for  hundreds  and  even  thousands 
of  years,  what  is  then  more  natural,  than  that  the  actions, 
the  moral  tendencies,  and  mental  products  of  nations 
should  be  determined  by  their  innate  natural  traits  and 
inclinations?  That  which  we  perceive  daily  to  be  the 
case  with  single  individuals,  is  true  also  of  individual 
nations,  and  that  which  determines  the  lot  of  the  indi- 
vidual human  being,  determines  also  that  of  entire 
groups  of  nations  and  races. 

We  thought  necessary,  to  make  these,  perhaps  too 
lengthy,  introductory  remarks,  because  the  ideas  herein 
maintained,  to  which  I  myself  and  others  too  have  ar- 
rived through  original  studies  and  observations,  are  not 
yet  generally  acknowledged,  and  have  but  recently  begun 
to  make  their  way  in  the  world.  But  since  the  character 
of  the  Semitic  nations,  as  we  conceive  of  it,  is  to  be  the 
means  by  which  we  would  explain  the  material  and  mor- 
al actions  of  this  group  of  nations,  it  was,  therefore,  nec- 
essary to  point  out  at  first,  where  the  source  and  key  for 
the  explanation  of  those  phenomena  are  to  be  sought. 

A  celebrated  historian  asserted,  that  the  nations,  who 
dwelled  around  the  basin  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  were 
to  be  regarded  as  the  representatives  of  ancient  history. 
And  I  would  further  say,  that  eo  far  as  that,  which  we 
usually  call  "General  History,"  is  concerned,  its  repre- 
sentatives are  three  races  mainly :  the  Indo-European,  or 
more  briefly  the  Aryan,  then  the  Semitic,  and  lastly  the 
Ural-Altaic  races.  Of  the  last  there  is  little  to  say ;  that 
race  destroyed  much  and  built  up  little;  it  lived  upon 
other  people's  expenses,  and  produced  nothing  itself. 
Neither  has  it  widened  the  moral  horizon  of  the  nations 
by  any  new  ideas  nor  has  it  enriched  the  material  welfare 
of  mankind  by  any  new  inventions.  Individual  groups 
of  this  race,  as  the  Turks  and  the  Hungarians,  have  pro- 
gressed as  far  as  the  formation  of  an  elementary  state, 
with  a  royal  idol  at  its  head,  who  was  either  the  repre- 
sentative of  a  boundless  despotism,  or  of  a  most  dis- 
gusting stupidity  and  slothfulness.  When  they  were  in- 


THE   SEMITIC   NATIONS.  15 

cited  by  any  impulse,  then  they  fell  with  the  tempestu- 
ous rage  of  destroying  locusts  upon  the  nations  of  culture, 
exercised  cunning  and  unheard  of  refined  cruelties,  and 
destroyed  the  spiritual  and  material  works  of  many  cen- 
turies. When  their  rage  exhausted  itself,  then  they  were 
either  absorbed  by  the  nations  whom  they  conquered,  or 
they  formed  a  certain  kind  of  a  habitation  for  them- 
selves, where  they  suffered  that  cultivated  other  nations 
should  bring  to  them  the  elements  of  culture  and  civili- 
zation, things  which  they  sometimes  appropriated.  To 
themselves,  humanity  owes  no  thanks,  they  have  done 
much  harm,  and  very  little  what  was  useful ;  it  may  be, 
that  like  epidemics  they  cleared  the  atmosphere  of  some 
pestiferous  materials.  Other  groups  of  this  race,  like  the 
Finnic,  have  not  even  succeeded  in  the  formation  of  any 
state,  and  remained  perfectly  passive  in  the  history  of  the 
human  race. 

The  real  and  main  representatives  of  the  Cultur  ra- 
ces are  the  Aryans  and  Semites,  both  of  whom  are  the 
makers  of  our  history.  There  were,  indeed,  some  centers 
of  culture  before  these  two  races  appeared  in  history,  as 
e.  g.  Egypt  and  the  land  where  the  cuniform  writing  was 
invented;  perhaps  also  Jewish  Chaldea,  centers  of  culture, 
which  are  designated  by  the  uncertain  name  of  Hamitic*; 
but  the  influence  of  that  culture  upon  our  history  is  only 
a  mediate  one,  while  the  actions  of  those  two  races  are 
operating  on  us  vitally  to  this  day,  and  their  activity  has 
not  come  to  a  close  yet. 

The  Aryan  race  embraces  a  great  number  of  individ- 
ual groups  of  Nations,  disseminated  from  India  over 
Persia,  the  Caucasus,  through  entire  Europe  to  the  west- 
ern coast  of  Iceland,  and  now  all  over  America.  This  race 
consists  chiefly  of  the  following  national  groups  :  the  In- 
dian, the  Iranian,  the  Minor-Asiatic-Caucasian,  the  Gre- 
cian or  Pelasgian,  the  Italian  or  Romanic,  the  Germanic, 
the  Slavic  and  the  Celtic.  The  degree  of  consanguinity  be- 
tween these  groups  varies,  and  equally  so  also  does  the 
historical  importance  of  each  one  of  them,  so  that  one  is 
apt  to  accord  the  rights  of  primogeniture  to  one  or  the 
other  group  exclusively,  because  it  has  acquired  the  entire 
moral  wealth  of  its  race  for  itself,  and  left  its  brethren  to 
go  out  empty. 

Every  one  of  these  groups  are  again  divided  into  many 


16  THE   SEMITIC   NATIONS. 

nationalities,  every  one  of  which  had  found  a  different  lot 
and  a  different  position  in  history.  Nay,  it  even  happen- 
ed, that  an  individual  tribe  of  a  nation  became  specially 
prominent  by  dint  of  intellectual  excellencies  and  talents, 
as  e.  g.  the  Ionian  tribe  among  the  Greeks,  and  the  tribe 
of  Latium  among  the  Italics. 

The  Grecian  people,  by  virtue  of  its  pre-eminent  spirit 
as  well  as  energy  of  character,  occupies  the  chief  place 
in  this  race.  We  find  the  great  talents  of  this  people 
distributed  among  the  Indian  and  Italic  groups,  the  for- 
mer distinguishing  itself  in  mental  qualities,  the  latter  in 
energy  of  character.  Other  groups  of  the  same  race  made 
their  historic  appearance  subsequently,  and  building  upon 
the  culture  of  their  predecessors,  they  became  the  repre- 
sentatives of  a  new  civilization  and  remained  as  such. 
Other  groups  of  this  race  have  but  lately  woke  up  from 
their  historic  slumber,  and  are  perhaps  destined  to  be- 
come the  founders  of  the  civilization  of  the  future. 

The  Semitic  race  presents  no  such  variegated  picture  as 
that  which  the  Aryan  race  does.  It  does  not  separate  in- 
to so  many  national  groups,  and  the  relation  of  its  nations 
to  each  other  in  point  of  language,  is  that  which  the  na- 
tions of  the  individual  Aryan  groups  bear  to  each  other. 

The  geographical  dissemination  too  of  the  Semitic  race 
is  by  far  less  than  that  of  the  Aryan  race  ;  but  for  that 
the  Semites  formed  themselves  into  compact  masses  in 
their  habitations,  which  were  little  or  not  at  all  interrupt- 
ed by  foreign  nations.  This  race  divides  into  the  follow- 
ing groups : 

(1.)  The  Southern,  or  Arabian  Group.  This  again 
subdivides  into  the  South-Arabian,  or  Himiaric  Group, 
(to  which  the  Abyssinians  too  may  be  counted,)  and  into 
the  Middle  or  North  Arabian  Group.  (2.)  The  second  of 
these  groups  is  formed  by  the  Middle- Semitic  or  Canaani- 
tic,  whose  chief  representatives  are  the  Hebrews  and 
Phoenicians,  whose  languages  differed  only  dialectical ly. 
(3.)  Ihe  third  group  is  formed  by  the  Northern  or  Ara- 
maic, which  occupied  Syria,  the  north  of  Mesopotamia, 
and  no  doubt  some  of  the  eastern  provinces  of  Asia  Mi- 
nor. (4.)  The  fourth  group,  which  some  include  in  the 
third,  but  as  I  think  unjustly,  I  would  denominate,  the 
Eastern-Semitic  or  Assyro-Babylonian,  which  in  some 
part,  at  least,  was  intermixed  with  an  ancient  non-Semi- 
tic nationality. 


THE   SEMITIC    NATIONS.  17 

The  talents  too  of  this  race,  like  those  of  the  Aryan 
race,  were  unequally  distributee^  but  there  were  no  senior 
lords  among  them,  who  took  possession  of  ail,  and  left 
nothing  tor  their  juniors,  for  all  of  its  group*  played  a 
greater  or  smaller  part  in  human  history,  and  none  of 
them  hibernated  historically.  An  exception  to  this  are  the 
Abyssinians,  among  whom,  however,  an  extensive  admix- 
ture of  Negro  blood  semi.- to  have  taken  place. 

As  the  Greeks  distinguished  themselves  among  the 
Aryans,  so  have  the  ancient  Hebrews  among  the  Semites, 
and  that  by  great  gifts  of  mind  and  heart,  as  well  as  by 
their  idealism,  so  that  the  greatest  part  of  humanity  be- 
came instructed  and  enlightened  and  led  on  to  a  higher 
degree  of  perfection  by  their  scriptures  and  doctrines. 
Next  to  the  Hebrews,  their  neighbors  the  Phoenicians, 
distinguished  themselves  by  great  energy  of  character  and 
enterprise.  Everyone  of  the  other  Semitic  groups  had 
their  own  peculiar  excellencies,  but  the  Arameans  seem 
partly  to  have  occupied  the  last  place  among  them. 

We  can  now  approach  our  main  task  directly,  and 
>keteh  the  characteristic  features  of  the  Semitic  nations. 
About  fifteen  years  ago,  a  man  of  great  talent  and  high: 
philosophic  and  historic  culture  undertook  the  same 
thing,  and  in  one  of  his  chief  works  drew  the  picture  of 
the  Semitic  nations ;  we  mean  here  Kenan  and  his  char- 
acterization of  the  Semites,  in  the  beginning  of  his  still 
excellent  book,  in  spite  of  some  of  its  defects,  entitled 
"  Histoire  generale  et  systeme  compare  des  langues  Sem- 
itiques." —  This  book  written  with  French  elegance, 
masterly  clearness,  and  almost  German  thoroughness, 
found  in  Germany  too  a  great  circulation.  His  character- 
ization of  the  Semites  was  almost  universally  acknowledged 
as  the  only  true  one,  so  that  in  looking  into  any  book, 
which  treated  about  the  Semites,  the  words  of  Kenan  are 
met  with  in  a  rechewed  condition  ad  nauseum.  The  only 
opponents,  which  Kenan  met  with  were  those,  who  have 
made  a  specialty  of  the  languages,  literatures,  and  history 
of  the  Semites.  This  comparatively  small  company,  but 
whose  opinion  in  this  matter  is  of  the  greatest  import- 
ance, expressed  themselves  ab  initio  in  opposition  to  Ke- 
nan, a  thing  which  the  writer  of  these  lines  too  did  both 
orally  and  in  writing.  'In  consequence  of  this  contradic- 
tion from  competent  judges,  Kenan  wrote  a  little  time  af- 


18  THE   SEMITIC   NATIONS. 

ter  this:  "Xouvelles  consideration  sur  le  earactere  general 
des  pen  pies  Semitiques,  et  en  particulier  sur  leur  tendance 
au  monotheisme,"  in  which  he  modifies  his  views  about 
the  Semites  on  some  points,  and  deals  here  more  justly 
with  them  than  he  does  in  his  above  mentioned  work. 
But  this  later  composition  of  Renan,  published  as  it  was 
in  a  Specialist's  journal,  remained  almost  unknown  to  the 
public  at  large,  while  his  former  work  was  extensively 
circulated.  But  as  no  house  can  be  built  on  a  place  where 
another  is  already  standing,  I  must  before  giving  my  own 
sketch,  express  myself  concerning  Kenan's  characteriza- 
tion of  the  Semites,  which  on  account  of  its  general  circu- 
lation and  the  illustrious  name  of  its  author  must  not  be 
ignored. 

We  have  already  acknowledged  our  respect  for  Re- 
nan's  great  talents  and  versatility  of  knowledge,  but  in 
that  one  quality,  which  is  indispensable  for  a  historian, 
viz.,  perfect  religions  impartiality,  he  is  at  times  deficient. 
He  was  educated  in  an  ecclesiastical  seminary,  and  it  is 
told  that  hopes  were  entertained  of  his  becoming  a  pillar 
of  the  Catholic  Church.  It  is  well  known  that  he  did 
not  become  that,  but  the  very  reverse,  and  it  is,  therefore, 
not  easy  for  him  to  be  perfectly  unbiased  in  treating  of 
religious  questions;  since,  therefore,  the  Semites  are  the 
well  known  founders  of  the  three  positive  religions,  he 
approached  the  consideration  of  this  race  not  altogether 
without  prejudice.  In  consequence  of  this,  perhaps  un- 
conscious, prejudice,  Renan  preformed  his  judgment  con- 
cerning the  Semites,  and  estimated  certain  phenomena  of 
this  race  in  accordance  with  false  preconceptions.  In 
passing  judgment  on  an  entire  race,  one  can  not  give  a 
true  picture  of  it  by  giving  prominence  to  certain  charac- 
teristic features  of  one  and  another  of  its  nations.  Only 
such  characteristic  features  must  be  found  out  in  that 
ease,  which  are  common  to  all  the  representatives  of  that 
race.  Renan  did  not  do  so,  but  collected  those  salient 
features  of  now  one  and  then  another  Semitic  nation, 
which  fitted  into  his  system  ;  but  those  features  of  charac- 
ter which  would  not  fit  in  there  he  tries  to  get  rid  of  as 
best  he  can.  Let  us  see  now  how  he  characterizes  this  race. 

The  Semitic  race,  he  says,  is  a  "ranee  inferieure,"  which 
stands  far  below  the  Aryan.  He  ascribes  moreover  to 
the  Semites  an  "absence  de  complexite  des  nuances,"  and 


THE   SEMITIC    NATION-.  19 

then  "sentiment  exclusif  de  1'unite."  The  Semites  were 
incapable  of  grasping  diversity  and  multiplicity,  and 
have,  he  think-;,  therefore,  arrived  instinctively  at  Mo- 
notheism. They  also  had  neither  mythology,  philosophy, 
or  any  science.  Polytheism  and  philosophy,  he  thinks, 
are  the  outflow  of  that  ability  of  grasping  the  idea  of 
multiplicity  ;  in  the  childhood  of  humanity  this  ability 
produces  polytheism,  and  in  mature  age  philosophy. 

Prophecy  and  revelation  were  Semitic  products,  while 
the  doctrine  of  the  Incarnation  was  perfected  among  the 
Aryans. 

The  Semites  were  wanting  in  imaginative  power,  they 
possess,  therefore,  no  epics,  no  drama,  and  their  poetry 
is,  therefore,  subjective. 

Simplicity  characterises  the  Semites,  the  inability  of 
forming  something  grand  and  whole:  hence,  he  thinks, 
they  never  carried  on  any  great  commerce,  were  unable 
to  organize  any  great  states,  and  had  no  aristocracy,  no 
feudal  system,  and  no  military  organization.  In  a  mili- 
tary respect  the  Semites  were  of  little  importance,  and 
their  military  chief  is  often  an  ecclesiastical  personage,  as, 
e.  g.,  Abdelkader. 

He  denies  the  Semites  any  spirituality.  Religious  in- 
tolerance, supposed  to  be  unknown  to  the  Aryans,  is  said 
to  be  exclusively  a  product  of  the  Semitic  spirit,  for 
which,  of  course,  humanity  owes  them  no  thanks. 

Laxity  of  morals  and  harsh  egotism,  Renun  maintains, 
are  also  chief  characteristic  features  of  the  Semite,  for  he 
is  said  to  know  of  duty  only  to  himself,  and  many  a  Bib- 
lical |>ersonage  is  adduced  in  evidence  of  this.  This 
characteristic  Kenan  concludes  thus  :  "Ainsi  la  race  Se- 
mitique  se  reconnait  presque  uniquement  a  des  caracteres 
negatifs  :  elle  n'a  ni  mythologie,  ni  epopee,  ni  science,  ni 
philosophic,  ni  fiction,  ni  arts  plastiques,  ni  vie  civile,  en 
tout  absence  de  complexity  des  nuances,  sentiment  exclu- 
sif <le  I'unite." 

In  the  later  article  which  we  mentioned,  in  seeking  to 
reply  to  the  objections  which  were  raised  against  this 
characterization,  Renan  becomes  measurably  more  just  to 
the  Semites,  and  says  of  them  that  they  often  become  en- 
thused for  .a  mere  idea,  and  that  humanity  owes  them 
thanks  for  many  a  blessing.  Notwithstanding  this,  he 
adheres  to  the  above  characterization,  and  it  is  inconceiv- 


20  THE   SEMITIC    NATIONS. 

able  how  such  an  incapable,  ill-formed,  and  egotistic  race 
could  still  become  enthused  for  a  mere  idea,  and  the^be- 
stowers  of  many  a  blessing  upon  humanity. 

This  characterization  is  in  part  decidedly  untrue,  for 
Renan  imputes  certain  phenomena  to  the  Semites  which 
never  took  place  among  them,  and  in  other  parts  again 
he  interprets  falsely  these  phenomena,  deriving  them 
from  false  causes,  and  thus  ascribes  certain  qualities  to 
the  Semites  which  they  do  not  possess.  This  characteri- 
zation led  on  to  consequences  which  reached  far  beyond 
Kenan's  aim ;  a  school  formed  itself  in  France,  which, 
conscious  of  an  imagined  superiority  of  the  Aryan  ever 
the  Semitic  race,  preached  openly  against  Semitic  mono- 
theism, and  almost  encouraged  a  return  to  Aryan  poly- 
theism. 

We  will  consider  here  some  points  of  the  characteriza- 
tion given  by  Renan. 

The  Semitic  race  were,  according  to  him,  a  "  race  in- 
ferieure."  It  is  difficult  to  dispute  about  such  a  point,  as 
it  often  is  purely  subjective.  That  which  the  French- 
man considers  as  very  foolish,  the  Englishman  may  con- 
sider very  wise,  and  vice  versa,  in  which  each  one  of 
them  may  be  perfectly  correct  from  his  standpoint.  Can 
it  really  be  that  the  ancient  Babylonians  were  altogether 
void  of  any  talents,  they  who  invented  weights  and  meas- 
ures ;  they  who,  already  in  the  eighth  century  before 
Christ,  have  made  astronomical  observations,  which  in 
great  part  are  correct  to  a  second ;  they  who  introduced 
a  system  of  canalization  throughout  their  whole  country, 
by  which  they  converted  it  into  a  paradise;  they  who 
have  erected  those  vast  structures  which  were  the  objects 
of  the  admiration  of  the  ancient  world  ?  Or  can  the 
Assyrians  be  considered  as  having  been  untalented,  who 
were  so  far  advanced  in  architecture,  and  who  produced 
works  of  art  which  can  be  placed  by  the  side  of  those  of 
the  Greeks  ? 

Many  who  have  either  lived  among,  or  who  had  much 
intercourse  with,  the  Arabs,  maintain  that  these  were 
very  talented,  and  this,  I  believe,  is  attested  by  the  mag- 
nificent beauty  of  Arabian  intellectual  culture  during  the 
Middle  Ages,  when  they  busied  themselves  with  the 
greatest  zeal  in  all  departments  of  science.  Only  able 
and  talented  people  have  taste  and  pleasure  in  scientific 
pursuits. 


THE  SEMITIC   NATIONS.  21 

That  the  Phoenicians,  despite  their  grandeur,  should 
after  all  have  been  without  talent,  this  Kenan  may  pos- 
sibly believe.  I  for  my  part  can  not  consider  men  like 
Hunno,  Hatnilkar,  ami  Hannibal  as  having  been  block- 
heads. It  is  true  that  Kenan  attempts  to  strike  out  those 
Phoenicians  from  the  list  of  Semitic  nations,  because  they 
so  obstinately  refuse  to  be  fitted  into  his  system ;  but  has 
he  any  tenable  ground  for  doing  so?  Did  they  not 
speak  a  Semitic  language?  Were  not  their  gods  and 
their  cities  named  by  Semitic  names ?  And  what  other 
criterion  have  we  by  which  to  determine  the  origin  of 
any  nation  except  its  language?  It  is  true  that  the  few 
fragments  of  the  Hebrew  nation  in  the  different  lands  of 
Europe  speak  in  different  languages;  but  the  reason  of 
this  is  obvious  enough  ;  when,  however,  a  great  and 
ir'ulcly-spread  nation  speaks  one  and  the  same  language 
from  time  immemorial,  then  that  language  must  be  taken 
as  a  decided  criterion  of  the  origin  of  that  nation. 

And  the  Hebrews,  are  they  too  a  nation  without  tal- 
ents? I  believe  that  their  worst  enemies,  from  Hainan 
down  to  the  celebrated  composer  Wagner,  accord  to 
them  high  intellectual  talents.  Nay,  more,  these  talents 
constitute  the  fortune  and  misfortune  of  this  nation  ;  for- 
tune, because  the  intellectual  talents  are  the  highest 
bl<— ings  of  life;  misfortune,  because  they  create  envy 
and  hatred;  the  blockhead  is  never  envied,  never  hated. 
Of  the  internal  life  of  the  ancient  Arameans,  we  know 
indeed  very  little,  and  it  is  impossible,  therefore,  to  say 
something  positive  of  the  degree  of  their  talents.  This 
much,  however,  is  known,  that  the  Syrians  occupied 
themselves  very  extensively  with  grammatical  studies, 
philosophy,  and  with  science  generally,  that  they  trans- 
lated and  commentated  extensively  upon  the  works  of 
Plato  and  Aristotle,  and  that  for  several  centuries  they 
were  the  only  cultivators  of  science,  and  at  last  became 
the  teachers  of  the  Arabians. 

Let  us  consider  now  the  alleged  inferiority  of  the  Se- 
mites from  another  side.  The  Semites  have  founded  Ju- 
daism, Christianity,  and  Islamism,  and  gave  to  humanity 
the"  Bible  and  the  Koran.  Hegel,  the  philosopher,  says  : 
All  that  exists  is  rational,  I  can  not  agree  to  this  sen- 
tence, but  would  rather  say:  All  that  which  does  exist 
must  exist,  and  since  it  does  exist,  it  must  have  such 


22  THE   SEMITIC   NATIONS. 

vital  force  in  itself  that  its  existence  becomes  a  necessity, 
or  else  it  would  not  exist.  An  idea,  which  has  dominated 
for  centuries,  must  have  had  a  perfect  right  to  such  domi- 
nation, and  must  have  answered  the  spiritual  demands 
and  necessities  of  those  over  whom  it  dominated,  for  no 
idea  can  be  made  to  attain  a  fasting  dominion  by  means 
of  ukases  and  police  ordinances  ,  he  that  ( belie  vet  the 
contrary  knows  but  poorly  humanity  and  history.  Look- 
ing altogether  away  from  theology,  and  placing  ourselves 
on  the  standpoint  which  historians  occupy,  we  say  then  : 
Since  the  Bible  has  been  regarded  as  a  holy  book  for 
thousands  of  years  by  millions,  among  whom  were  and 
are  found  thousands  and  thousands  of  highly  educated 
people,  who  have  for  so  long  a  time  found  in  it  refresh- 
ment, instruction,  consolation,  and  elevation  of  soul, 
therefore  must  this  Bible  be  a  book  which  has  answered, 
and  which  does  answer,  the  spiritual  wants  of  man ; 
were  it  not  so,  then  the  Bible  could  not  have  occupied 
such  a  place  in  humanity.  And  speaking  as  we  do  here, 
not  as  theologians,  we  are  able  to  judge  of  the  Koran  too 
in  an  unprejudiced  way.  This  book  also  has  become  of 
great  importance  to  humanity,  and  having  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments  for  its  substructure,  it  undoubtedly  dis- 
seminated some  very  great  truths,  and  accomplished 
much  good.  Should  then  this  race,  which  has  enriched 
humanity  with  ideas  so  full  of  blessings,  ideas  to  which 
even  the  most  cultivated  nations  of  antiquity  could  not 
rise,  should  then  this  race  to  which  humanity  owes  so 
many  blessings — as  Renan  himself  admits — be  a  "race 
inferieure"?  Impossible!  But  Renan  sought  in  the  Se- 
mites that  which  was  of  value  for  him,  and  finding  little 
of  that,  he  declares  it  to  be  a  "race  inferieure."  But 
has  the  ingenious  naturalist  any  right  to  pronounce  the 
ingenious  historian  a  narrow-minded  man,  because  this 
one  understands  little  of  the  naturalist's  science?  The 
Semites  are  actually  as  talented  as  the  Aryans,  only  that 
the  talents  of  the  former  are  of  a  different  nature  from 
that  of  the  latter. 

Renan  maintains  further  that  the  Semites  have  not  the 
ability  to  grasp  multiplicity,  and  incline,  therefore,*  in- 
stinctively to  unity.  I  confess  1  can  not  conceive  how  a 
Renau  could  have  said  any  such  thing.  On  the  contrary, 
every  uneducated  mind  sees  in  the  multitude  of  phenom- 


THE    SEMITIC    NATIONS.  23 

ena  only  an  incoherent  multiplicity  ;  and  it  is  only  the 
more  educated  mind  who  seeks  to  reduce  these  to  a  fun- 
damental unity.  It  requires,  therefore,  no  special  ability 
for  gra>pinj;  multiplicity;  every  child  can  do  this;  but 
it  does  require  an  especial  ability  to  comprehend  various 
objects  as  belonging  into  one  category,  and  then  reduce 
different  categories  again  to  one  fundamental  principle. 
In  this  very  thing  consists  the  task  of  modern  natural 
science,  vi/.,  to  reduce  the  multitude  of  phenomena  to  a 
single  principle.  Light,  heat,  electricity,  and  magnetism 
are  for  the  layman  four  totally  different  things;  but  for 
tli«  scientific  man  they  are  only  four  different  phenomena 
of  one  and  the  same  principle. 

So  far  as  the  other  points  of  Kenan's  characterization 
an  concerned,  it  will  appear  further  on,  in  our  own  char- 
a< 'ten/at ion,  what  is  true  and  what  is  false  in  them,  and 
also  in  how  far  he  falsely  conceived  of  different  phenom- 
ena in  the  institutions  and  mental  products  of  the  Se- 
mites, and  explained  them  wrongly.  But  there  is  one 
point  which  I  can  not  pass  here  unnoticed,  viz.,  his  as- 
sertion that  religious  intolerance  is  a  thing  unknown  to 
the  Aryans,  and  is  an  exclusive  product  of  the  Semitic 
mind.  This  is  decidedly  incorrect,  for  that  intolerance 
occurs  as  much  among  the  Aryans  as  among  the  Semites, 
and  if  it  occurs  more  frequently  among  the  latter,  it  is 
o\vin<r  to  the  nature  of  the  Semitic  religion,  and  not  to 
the  character  of  its  professors.  A  religion  which  negates 
every  other  one  and  declares  it  as  a  lie,  can  not  be  as  tol- 
erant as  a  religion  which  assumes  a  merely  national  char- 
acter. The  Greeks  could  not  be  intolerant  to  other  than 
their  own  gods,  for  they  did  not  ignore  them,  and  only 
regarded  them  a.s*foreign.  On  the  other  hand,  they  pun- 
ished relentlessly  every  desecration  of  their  own  religion, 
on  account  of  which  they  persecuted  the  philosophers 
Anuxagoras,  Alcibiades,  and  others.  The  Greeks  and 
Romans  had  a  bitter  hatred  against  the  Jews,  because 
they  held  them  as  traducers  of  their  gods.  It  is  well 
known  how  Antiochus  Epiphanes  persecuted  the  Jews 
during  the  time  of  the  Maccabeans  on  account  of  their 
religion.  The  Aryan  Brahmans  persecuted  the  Budd- 
hists fearfully,  and  for  centuries,  and  in  some  Indian  pro- 
vinces succeeded  in  exterminating  them  completely.  In 
the  same  way  the  ancient  Persians,  under  Cambyses, 


24  THK    SF.MITIC    NATIONS. 

raged  against  the  temples  and  gods  of  the  Egyptians,  and 
Xerxes  against  those  oi  Greece.  Ot  the  religious  1'uiati- 
cism  of  the  Aryan  Sassanides,  both  Jews  and  Christians 
have  enough  to  record.  But  the  Jews  did  not  com-rni 
themselves  at  all  with  the  heathenism  of  other  nations,  and 
only  prohibited  idolatry  in  their  own  country,  because  <>t 
its  connection  with  various  vices  in  anterior  Asia,  by 
which  the  Jewish  |>eople  might  easily  have  been  seduced. 
From  proselytizing  the  Jews  keep  themselves  far  away 
even  to  this  day.  Islamism  too  is  only  intolerant  against 
heathenism,  because  it  regards  it  as  a  He,  but  tolerates 
Christianity  and  Judaism  because  it  does  not  consider 
them  as  false,  believing  of  them  only  that  they  do  not 
contain  the  full  truth,  and  that  they  became  antiquated 
through  Islamism.  Intolerance  against  the  profanation 
of  anything  that  is  regarded  as  holy,  is  common  to  both 
Aryan  and  Semite;  but  the  Aryans  could  not  strive  to 
promulgate  the  truths  of  their  religions  further  on,  be- 
cause there  were  no  truths  in  them  which  they  could 
have  regarded  as  specially  their  own.  It  must  also  not 
be  left  unnoticed  that  the  Mohammedan  Persian,  although 
he  is  an  Aryan,  is  incomparably  more  fanatical  than  the 
genuine  Arab. 

The  peculiarities  of  a  people  arise  from  four  funda- 
mental causes,  viz. : 

1.  From  the  nature  of  its  intellect. 

2.  From  tho  nature  of  its  heart  and  nervous  system. 

3.  From  the    relation   in   which  these  two  qualities 
stand  to  each  other,  i.  e.  whether  the  intellect  preponde- 
rates over  the  heart,  or  whether  they  balance  each  other. 

4.  And  lastly  the  peculiarities  of  a  nation  depend  up- 
on the  distribution  of  the  spiritual  gifts  among  its  mem- 
bers, i.  e.,  whether  they  are  limited  to  only  a  small  num- 
ber of  individuals,  or  are  bountifully  divided  among  the 
great  mass.     From  this  stand  point  we  will  investigate 
the  nature  of  the  Semitic  nations. 

A.  In  reference  to  the  Intellect :  The  Semite  does  not 
possess  that  fullness  and  variety  of  ideas,  which  the  Ary- 
an does,  but  he  possesses  a  sound,  practical,  one  might 
almost  say  mathematical  intellect,  a  talent  of  easy  and 
quick  comprehension,  and  an  acuteness,  which  often  de- 
generates in  subtleties.  With  such  new  ideas  and  con- 
ceptions as  are  the  outflow  of  the  intellect,  the  Semites 


THE  SENflTIC    NATIONS.  25 

have  little  enriched  humanity,  but  the  ideas  which  they 
oner  grasped  they  worked  up  finely,  and  pursued  to  the 
utmost  consequences. 

B.  In  reference  to  the  Disposition,  (Gemneth)  and  the 
Organization  of  the  nervous  system:  The  Semite  posses- 
M  >  a  drrp,  easily  excitable  disjx>sition,  and  is  capable  of 
mighty    feelings;    he  is  therefore,  lively,  mobile,  easily 
I'xeiu-d.  passionate,  quickly   enthused  for  an  idea,  active 
and    enterprising,    flexible   and    adapting,  easily  finding 
himself  at  home  in  strange  relations  and  circumstances, 
accommodating  himself  to  them  without  difficulty,  with- 
out, however,  allowing  of  being  absorbed  by  them. 

C.  In  reference  to  the  interrelation  of  Heart  and  In- 
tellect: The  easy  excitibility  and  passionateness  of  the  Se- 
mites is   regulated   by  their  intellect ;    there  dominates 
in  them  a  certain  equipoise  between   heart  and   head,  so 
that  they  guard  each  other  against  excesses.    The  Semite, 
therefore,  moves  apparently  in  contrasts,  for  while  in  the 
Aryan  either  the  intellect  or  the  heart  predominates,  we 
find  in   the  Semite  a  sharply  incising  intellect,  coupled 
with  a  deeply  poetic  disposition,  reflexion  coupled  with 
enthusiasm. 

D.  In  reference  to  the  distribution  of  Mental  Gifts : 
There    were  among  the  Semites  always  comparatively 
fewer  great  men  of  prominent  mental  gifts,  so  called  ge- 
niu<- s.  than  among   the  Aryan   nations;  but  the  great 
mass  of  the  former  is  more  talented  than  that  of  the  lat- 
ter, so  that  we  find   fewer  geniuses,  but  relatively  more 
talented  individuals  among  the  Semites  than  among  the 
Aryans.     Dull  and  stupid   individuals  are  fewer  among 
the  former  than  among  the  latter. 

From  these  fundamental  peculiarities  of  the  Semites 
rise  the  following  qualities  : 

1 .  Soberness  of  Disposition  and  want  of  an  extrava- 
gant fancy. 

'2.     Sharply  expressed  individuality  of  the  single  per  son. 

3.  Depth  and  inwardness  of  the  Affections,  (Gemueth) 
<|tiiek  and  easy  excitibility  of  the  same,  and  as  a  conse- 
quence of  this,  receptivity  for  humane  ideas,  inclination 
to  benevolence,  quick  enthusiam  for  an  idea,  and  exalta- 
tion of  the  mind,  of  an  idea,  above  material  power;  a 
more  spiritual  conception  of  the  external  world  and  an 
inclination  to  idealism. 


26  THE   SEMITIC   NATIONS. 

From  these  qualities  may  be$xplftuied  the  various  phe- 
nomena in  the  life  of  the  Semites,  their  fortunes,  i institu- 
tions and  spiritual  productions. 

1.  The  soberness  of  the  spirit  of  the  S. 'mites  mani- 
fested its  influence  upon  their  religion,  their  .-eienee,  their 
poetry. 

1.     Upon  their  Religion. 

a.  The  Semites  produced  sober,  simple,  easily  under- 
stood religious  views  and  conceptions;  speaking  gener- 
ally, we   may   say,  that  the  Semites,  as  long  as  they  did 
not  come  in  close  contact  with  other  nations,  showed  far 
less  inclination  to  coarse  superstitions  than  the  Aryans. 
We  find  in  the  Pentateuch  already,  prohibitions  against 
all  manner  of  sorcery  and  witchcraft,  as  well  as  against 
the  belief  in  the  influence  of  the  stars  upon  the  fortunes 
of  nations.     Even  those  rabbis,  who  were  not  exposed  to 
Persian  influences,  forbade  every  kind  of  incantation,  the 
use  of  secret,  magic-like  remedies  and  talismans,  the  be- 
lief in  good  and    evil  days,  good  and  evil   forebodings. 
So  also  is  the  Arab  of  the  desert,  as  the  general  testimo- 
ny of  travelers  assures  us,  little  accessible  to  superstitions, 
and  is  a  far  less  strict  Mohammedan  than  the  Persian  and 
Turk. 

b.  The  Mythology  of  the  Semites,  as  far  as  we   know 
it,  viz.,  that  of  the  Phoenicians,  Babylonians,  Assyrians 
and  Arabs,  is  extremely  sober  and  simple,  and  holds  no 
comparison  with  the  variety  and  richness  of  the  mytho- 
logy of  the  Greeks,  whose  mythology  again    compared 
with  that  of  India,  must  appear  simple  and  sober.     The 
same  is,  true  of  Semitic  cosmogony.     To  be  persuaded  of 
this,  it  is  only  necessary  to  compare  the  cosmogony  of 
the  Babylonians,  as  we  find   it  in   Berosos  and  Eude- 
mos,  and  that  of  the  Phoenicians  in  Sanchonjathon,   with 
that  of  Hesiod  or  with  that  of  the  Hindoos,  as  is  seen  in 
the  laws  of  Manu  and  in  the  Mahabharata. 

c.  Religious  revelry,  religious  extacies  and  religious 
trances  occur,  on   the  whole,  far  more  rarely  among  the 
Semites  than  among  the  Aryans,  and  when  they  do  occur, 
are  not  of  such  an  excessive  character  as  among  the  lat- 
ter.    Lucian  speaks  extensively  of  the  Galls,  the  priests 
of  the  goddess  Cybele  in  Asia  Minor,  and  mentions  that  in 
their  religious  frenzy    they    mutilated  themselves  with 
swords ;  some  of  the  New  Platonians  threw  themselves 


THE    SEMITIC    NATIONS.  27 

into  religious  extacies  and  believed  then  to  have  divine 
vi-ious.  The  religious  enthusiasms  and  trances  of  the 
Mohammedan  Sufis  and  Derwishes,  who  are  almost  ex- 
clu-ively  Persian  Mohammedans,  is  well  known.  Such 
phenomena  occur  very  rarely  among  the  Semites  gem-ral- 
ly, and  particularly  so  among  the  Arabs,  who  are  yet  Mo- 
han  mcilaiis,  and  among  the  Jews. 

There  is  very  little  inclination  to  mysticism  found 
among  the  Semites.  For  a  very  long  time  the  Jews 
kept  themselves  perfectly  free  from  every  kind  of 
mysticism;  so  is  also  the  uUunSnn  of  the  Arabs  almost 
free  from  it,  while  the  Islamism  of  the  Aryrian  Per- 
sians has  an  entirely  mystical  character.  The  fanciful 
and  mystical  Sufisra  proceeded  from  the  Persians,  and  to 
this  day  ils  spread  is  almost  entirely  confined  to  them. 
The  genuine  Arab,  on  the  other  hand,  is  too  sober-mind- 
ed to  find  any  taste  in  it. 

The  life  of  Mohammed  and  Ali  is  indeed  embellished 
by  the  Arabs  with  miracles,  but  keeps  otherwise  quite  so- 
berly, while  the  life  of  these  heroes  of  Islam,  as  related 
by  tlu-  Persians,  assumes  altogether  the  phantastical  and 
mystical  character  of  the  life  of  Buddha,  as  given  by  the 
Aryan  Buddhists. 

2.     The  influence  of  Semitic  soberness  on  science. 

a.  The  philosophy  of  the  Semites  has  a  sober,  one 
might  almost  say,  a  practical  character;  we  call  to  mind 
only  the  Old  Testament  evidence  of  the  existence  of  God. 
"  Lift  up  your  eyes,"  exclaims  a  great  prophet,  "  to 
heaven  and  see  who  created  all  these !"  Or  as  the  Psalm- 
ist says :  "  The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God,  and 
the  expanse  preaches  of  the  works  of  his  hands."  Very 
simple,  but  I  as  a  Semite,  find  it  also  very  rational.  The 
Semites  occupy  themselves  almost  exclusively  with  only 
such  philosophical  questions,  which  to  a  certain  extent 
have  an  immediate  significance  for  life,  and  never  philo- 
sophise aimlessly  about  things  that  are  unsearchable. 

Thus  the  philosophy  of  the  Arabs,  and  a  little  later  that 
of  the  Jews,  turns  chiefly  about  the  two  questions,  which 
they  called  Tauchid  and  Tadil,  i.  e.  the  question,  how  the 
attributes  of  God  are  to  be  united  with  the  idea  of  His 
absolute  unity,  and  the  question  how  to  reconcile  the 
doctrine  of  the  divine  omniscience,  with  that  of  human 
free  will ;  these  are  questions  which  are  of  great  prac- 


28  THE   SEMITIC   NATIONS. 

tical  importance  for  strict  Monotheists  and  such  as  believe 
in  those  seemingly  contradictory  doctrines.  The  great 
problems  of  humanity,  as  e.  g.  "  How  to  explain  the  cre- 
ation of  the  material  world  by  an  immaterial  God,  and 
the  relation  of  man  to  Him."  These  they  explained  in  a 
very  simple  and  rational  way  ;  but  they  never  lapsed  in- 
to Pantheism,  nor  into  the  doctrine  of  Emmanntinn.  The 
assertion  of  Kenan,  that  the  Semites  had  no  philosophy 
of  their  own  at  all,  and  that,  that  of  the  Arabs  was  only 
a  "  philosophie  Grecque  ecrit  en  Arabe"  is  decidedly  incor- 
rect ;  for  who  will  maintain  that  the  Semitic  doctrines  of 
creation,  of  the  relation  of  man  to  God,  as  well  as  the 
general  Semitic  view  of  the  universe,  were  not  the  pro- 
ducts of  philosophic  reflection  ?  It  is-  only  the  Ybrm  in 
which  these  philosophic  doctrines  are  presented  by  the 
Semites,  that  differs  from  that  of  the  more  ancient  and 
modern  Aryans.  So  far  as  concerns  the  philosophy  of 
the  Arabs,  T  have  many  years  ago  called  Mr.  Kenan's 
attention  to  the  fact,  that  long  before  the  Arabs  ever  knew 
of  the  philosophy  of  the  Greeks,  they  already  busied  them- 
selves with  the  philosophic  solution  of  the  above  men- 
tioned questions.  Recently,  Alfred  von  Kremer,  who  is 
highly  versed  in  Islam  and  in  Mohammedan  literature, 
has  shown  that  the  Arabs  have  gone  through  all  the  pha- 
ses of  philosophy,  from  Scotus  Erigona  down  to  Kant  and 
Schelling,  and  after  enumerating  all  the  views  of  the 
Christian  European  philosophers  about  God,  he  asks  very 
pertinately  :  "Are  all  these  deductions  clearer  than  those 
of  the  Islamic  thinkers?  Do  they  enrich  the  circle  of  hu- 
man conceptions  with  one  positive  idea?  etc."  Their 
Ethics  crystalized  themselves,  so  to  say,  in  simple  and 
practical  sayings,  and  thus  the  Semites  arrived  at  more 
sound  results  than  the  Greeks  with  their  highly  developed 
Diaclectics. 

b.  Instead  of  dealing  with  too  abstract  and  insolvable 
questions,  the  Arabs  occupied  themselves  principally  with 
practical  sciences,  such  as  Astronomy,  Mathematics.  Me- 
dicine, &c.,  in  which  they  were  the  first  elementary 
teachers  of  the  Aryans,  and  then  became  their  most  dil- 
igent and  talented  pupils.  But  when  Kenan  asserts, 
that  the  Semites  had  no  science  at  all,  this  can  not  but 
astonish  all  those  that  have  a  knowledge  of  Semitic  liter- 
ature, who  well  know  that  the  writings,  which  treat  of 


I  UK  SEMITIC   NATIONS.  29 

Astronomy.  Mathematics,  Medicine,  Chemistry,  Geogra- 
phy, I'mtany,  Zoology  &c.,  in  the  Arabian,  -'Hebrew, 
ami  partly  in  Syrian  literatures,  are  numbered  by  the 
thousands.  Kenan  explains  subsequently  his  assertion  by 
saying,  he  meant  only  that  the  Semites  did  not  pursue  an 
imlt  [R'ndent  part  in  those  sciences,  and  did  not  carry  tlu-m 
further  on.  But  this  too  is  not  correct ;  for  the  measur- 
ing of  time  and  space  is  an  invention  of  the  Babylonians. 
These,  as  we  mentioned  above,  have  made  very  careful 
astronomical  observations,  long  before  the  time  there  was 
yet  any  thought  of  science  in  Greece.  There  was  a  scien- 
tific literature  in  Babylon  already  in  the  beginning  of  the 
sixth  century  before  Christ.  King  Solomon  wrote  :  "Of 
the  trees,  from  the  cedars  of  Lebanon  down  to  the  Hys- 
sop, which  grows  upon  the  wall,  and  of  beasts  and  birds, 
and  of  creeping  things  and  fishes."  Is  here  not 
the  contents  of  an  entire  Botany  and  Zoology?  The  Car- 
thagenian,  Mago,  wrote  already  in  the  sixth  century  B. 
C.,  a  great  work  on  agriculture,  which  theRomaus  thought, 
of  such  importance,  that  by  order  of  the  Senate  it  was 
translated  into  Greek  by  Dionysius  of  Utica,  and  from 
the  Greek  it  was  then  translated  into  Latin.  The  Gre- 
cian atjronoms,  Manaseas  and  Paxamus,  made  use  of  this 
work  of  Mago.  Columella  calls  him  "  pater  rusticationis" 
and  speaks  in  the  highest  terms  of  his  work.  So  far  as 
concerns  the  scientific  activity  of  the  Semites  in  the  mid- 
dlo  ages,  we  know  that  certain  departments  of  science, 
t.  g.  Mathematics  and  Astronomy  were  certainly  further 
developed  by  them,  while  it  is  impossible  as  yet  to  pro- 
nounce a  definite  opinion  as  to  the  value  of  their  labors 
in  other  scientific  departments,  the  labors  of  the  Jews  and 
Arabs  in  this  province  not  having  yet  been  sufficiently 
examined,  because  Orientalists  know  too  little  of  science, 
ami  scientists,  know  too  little  of  oriental  languages. 

3.  The  Art  of  the  Semites  is  equal  to  their  Philoso- 
phy and  Grammar;  it  is  sober,  not  rich  in  ideas,  but 
distinguishes  itself  by  its  admirable  detail,  which  is  car- 
ried to  the  highest  degree  of  finesse.  As  an  instance  I 
mention  here  the  Alhambra.  Seeing  for  the  first  time  the 
sculptures  of  this  palace  of  theChalifs  of  Cordova,  I  was 
reminded  by  them  of  the  definitions  of  the  Arabian 
Grammarians  and  Logicians,  and  of  some  Talmudical 
discussions,  which  are  equally  fine  but  poor  in  ideas.  The 


30  THE   SEMITIC   NATIONS. 

so  called  Gothic  style  is,  at  least  in  part,  of  Arabian  ori- 
gin, and  comparing  tins  style  of  architecture,  as  far  as  it 
is  of  Arabian  origin,  with  that  of  the  Greeks,  we  are 
compelled  to  deny  any  grandeur  of  thought  in  the  former, 
while  its  elaboration  of  detail  is  and  remains  worthy  of 
admiration. 

4.  Influence  of  Semitic  soberness  on  its  Poetry.  It 
is  mainly  lyrical :  it  is  a  momentary,  mighty  outpouring 
of  a  very  feeling,  passionate  and  easily  excitable  disposi- 
tion. Such  are  the  poetical  products  of  the  ancient  He- 
brews, as  well  as  those  of  the  middle  ages,  and  such  are 
those  of  the  Arabs,  and  almost  of  the  same  character  is 
even  the  poetry  of  Heinrich  Heine.  Real  epic  poems  the 
Semites  have  none.  An  approach  to  an  epic  mode  of 
presentation  may  indeed  be  found  in  the  so  called  Kaiub 
el-futuch  of  the  Arabs,  i.  e.  in  the  writings  containing  ro- 
mantic stories  of  the  great  campaigns  of  the  Arabians  af- 
ter Mohammed,  and  of  the  heroes,  which  became  promi- 
nient  in  them  ;  but  how  soberly  kept  are  even  these  ro- 
mantic stories  compared  with  the  often  measureless  fancy, 
with  which  the  Aryan  epics  are  elaborated,  as  e.g.  the 
Mahahharata,  the  Ramayana,  the  biographies  of  Buddha, 
and  the  Bodhisattwas.  It  must  not  be  left  unnoticed, 
that  the  first  novelist,  who  gave  a  sober  direction  to  Ger- 
man novel  literature  was  a  Jew ;  we  mean  Berthold  Au- 
erbach  with  his  village  stories.  Whether  Jewish  music 
also,  I  mean  that  of  Meyerbeer,  Mendelsohn-Bartholdy, 
Halevy  and  other  Jewish  composers,  has  a  specifically  Se- 
mitic character,  i.  e.  want  of  grand  ideas  and  yet  wonder- 
ful elaboration  of  detail,  this  I  dare  not  assert,  not  being 
a  musician  myself ;  but  a  priori,  I  am  almost  inclined  to 
maintain  it,  since  the  persistency  of  the  Semitic  character 
seldom  denies  itself. 

II.  A  second  trait  of  the  Semitic  character  is  a  sharp- 
ly expresed  Individuality  of  the  single  person,  which  does 
not  allow  of  its  being  easily  absorbed  by  other  individu- 
alities and  be  brought  into  obedience,  but  which  rather 
offers  a  tenacious  quality  of  resistance.  This  peculiarity 
of  the  Semites  has  given  a  special  impress  to  their  politi- 
co-social, scientific  and  religious  relations. 

1.     In  politico-religious  relation. 

a.  There  prevailed  always  among  the  Semites,  a  great 
respect  for  individuality,  and  in  consequence  of  thifr,  also 


THE  SEMITIC   NATIONS.  31 

a  great  personal  freedom  ainl  perfect  equality,  especially 
before  the  law  ;  the  Mos.iic  politico-social  institution-.  :;s 
well  as  the  lite  and  the  laws  of  the  Arabs  give  sufficient 
proof  of  this. 

6.  For  the  same  reason  there  never  was  among  the 
Semites  any  preferred,  privileged  birth-arlxtocracyt  no 
/  xijxtcm,  but  there  \va-  among  them  an  aristocracy 
of  mind,  founded  upon  individual  personal  worth.  There 
wire,  indeed,  noble  lain i lie.-  and  noble  tribes  among  the 
Arabs,  but  it  is  more  correct  to  say,  there  were  families 
and  tribes  who  considered  themselves  nobler  than  the 
re-t  ;  but  prerogatives  and  privileges  were  accorded  to 
none.  Even  the  Sherifs,  t.  e.  the  real  or  supposed  de- 
scendants of  Mohammed,  enjoy  in  reality  no  special  pre- 
rogatives, and  it  is  only  the  very  high  significance  of  their 
ancestors,  which  procures  for  them  a  certain  amount  of 
t.  That  among  nearly  all  the  Aryans,  things  were 
different  in  this  respect,  and  are  so  in  great  part  to  this 
day,  is  universally  Known. 

c.  For  the  same  reason  too,  there  were  no  Castes  among 
the  Semites,  no  caste-priesthood,  and  wherever  such  were 
introduced,  it  was  effected  under  great  opposition  from 
the  part  of  the  people,  and  after  great  conflicts,  and  the 
institution  of  caste-priesthood  was  at  last  abolished,  as 
soon  as  circumstances  permitted  it.  Among  the  heathen 
Ar.ibs,  the  priest  was  called  Kahin,  i.  e.  "  the  sooth  say- 
er :"  whoever,  therefore,  knew  the  art  of  soothsaying 
could  be  priest.  According  to  the  Arabic  institutions  of 
I>lami-m,  any  one,  who  is  versed  in  its  religious  laws, 
enn  perform  the  priestly  functions. 

It  is  well  known,  that  Moses  introduced  an  hereditary 

-thood  in  Israel  ;  but  already    in  his  lifetime  there 

arose  a  powerful  opposition  against  this  institution.  Many 

notable  persons,  of  whom  it  is  said,  that  they  were  "heads 

of  congregations,  who  were  called  to  the  Assembly,  men 

of  name ,"  at  the  head  of  whom  stood  a  very  near 

ivlative  of  Moses,  viz.,  Korah,  these  rose  up  against  Mo- 
ses and  Aaron,  and  told  them  in  genuine  Semitic  style : 
"  You  have  enough  !  The  entire  congregation, —  all  are 
holy,  and  God  is  in  their  midst,  and  why  do  ye  exalt 
yourselves  over  the  people  of  God?"  Down  to  the  time 
of  David  the  priestly  family  could  not  well  hold  its  own, 
and  until  that  time,  we  find  that  persons  not  of  the 


3:2  THE  "SEMITIC   NATK)V~. 

priestly  families,  frequently  offered  sacrifices  by  them- 
selves, and  this  is  nu-ntioned  without  rebuke.  It  was  not 
until  the  Monarchy  combined  itself,  as  it  often  happened, 
with  the  priesthood,  and  that  not  till  after  some  vacilla- 
tions, that  the  priesthood  was  able  to  maintain  its  right*. 
But  the  Hebrew  priests  were  not  merely  sacrificers,  they 
were  also  the  teachers  of  the  people,  and  thus  distin- 
guished themselves  by  personal  worth  and  not  by  the 
mere  privilege  of  caste.  Jn  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes, 
hereditary  priesthood  was  abolished  quickly  and  forever, 
and  even  in  Judea  a  king  made  once  an  opposition,  though 
an  ineffectual  one,  against  the  hereditary  priesthood ; 
and  the  prophets  too  were  a  continual  balance  against  it. 
The  democratically  disposed  Pharisaic  party  during  the 
second  Temple,  supplanted  gradually  the  priests  in  their 
functions  as  teachers  and  attempted  even  to  rob  them  of 
their  religious  priviliges,  by  assuming  themselves  certain 
religious  duties.  After  the  destruction  of  the  second 
Temple,  the  priests  lost  any  and  every  importance,  and 
to  this  day,  any  one  is  chosen  as  a  Rabbi  who  is  distin- 
guished for  learning  and  piety.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
inclination  of  theAryansto  castes,  need  not  at  all,  I  think, 
to  be  proven  ;  it  manifests  itself  to  this  day  in  the  for- 
mation of  guilds  and  special  societies.  It  is  well  known, 
that  the  Brahmins  of  the  Aryan  Hindoos  form  a  caste  ; 
but  the  Magii  too  formed  a  special  tribe  among  the  Per- 
sians. 

d.  In  consequence  too  of  that  characteristic  trait  of 
the  Semites,  there  was  a  prevalence  among  them  of  de- 
mocratic state  institutions  and  autonomy.  The  Mosaic 
state  institutions  were  based  altogether  on  the  principle 
of  entire  equality  and  perfect  autonomy ;  the  entire  peo- 
ple, not  less  than  every  village  were  to  govern  them- 
selves, and  this  was  partly  done  even  during  the  time  of 
the  Kings.  The  Arabian  king,  sheich,  or  chief  of  the 
tribe,  was  only  &  primus  inter  pare*,  an  official  of  limited 
power,  the  presiding  officer*  of  the  assembly;  his  office 
was  elective  and  not  hereditary.  Even  the  Chalifate  it- 
self was  originally  based  on  democratic  principles.  Ori- 
ginally all  the  property  and  revenue  of  the  state  belonged 
to  all  Moslems  and  was  distributed  among  them  as  a 
yearly  dotation,  called  "  Atha ;"  the  Chalif  was  the  free 
chosen  official,  whose  business  was  to  oversee  the  state 


THE   SEMITIC    NATIONS.  33 

property  and  distribute  it  equally,  but  like  every  other 
state  governor,  he  had  also  to  perform  the  ecclesiastical 
functions.  One  of  his  main  tasks  was,  the  dissemination 
and  strengthening  of  Islamism.  There  was  oucfe  an  at- 
tempt made  to  refuse  obedience  to  the  Chalif  Omar,  be- 
cause it  was  believed  that  he  appropriated  to  himself  from 
the  booty  a  larger  piece  of  cloth,  than  that  which  he  gave 
to  the  rest. 

The  main  cause  of  the  downfall  of  the  Chalif  Oth- 
inan  was,  his  arbitrary  procedure  in  the  distribution 
of  the  state  lands.  This  state  of  things  lasted  as 
long  as  the  seat  of  the  Chalifate  was  yet  in  Mecca. 
When  this  was  transferred  to  Damascus,  and  the  Onia- 
yades  came  to  the  throne,  these  allowed  themselves 
to  make  some  encroachments,  to  which  the  Arabs 
responded  with  terrific  rebellions.  There  were 
then  forming  mighty,  fanatical,  political  sects,  known  by 
the  name  of  *'  Chawarig,"  whose  tendency  was  decided- 
ly republican,  and  even  the  monarchical  party  of  the 
Arabs  considered  their  relation  to  the  Chalifs  as  that  of 
a  solvable  contract.  The  despotism  of  the  Chalifate  dates 
in  reality  only  from  the  time,  when  the  seat  of  the  gov- 
ernment was  transferred  to  Bagdad  by  the  Abbasides, 
who  came  to  power  principally  by  the  aid  of  the  Per- 
sians. The  stock  of  the  population  of  Bagdad  consisted 
of  Aryan  Persians.  Here  the  Chalifs  surrounded  them- 
selves with  Persian  troops  and  Persian  Ministers,  as  e.g. 
the  Bermakides,  who  surrounded  the  throne  for  three 
long  generations,  and  so  there  were  many  other  Viziers  of 
Persian  extraction.  The  official  body  of  the  different 
Divans  also  consisted  in  great  part  of  Persians.  Nay, 
more,  we  find  even,  that  individuals  of  Persian  extrac- 
tion who  stood  close  by  the  side  of  the  Chalifs,  were  ani- 
mated by  a  bitter  hatred  against  the  Arabs,  and  gave  un- 
sparing vent  to  their  ire  in  numerous  writings  and  pam- 
phlets, (missives).  The  turbulent  and  factious  Arabian 
troops  were  distributed  among  their  tribes,  and  dislocat- 
ed in  separate  camps  to  the  outside  of  the  city.  The  Cha- 
lifs knew  well  that  everything  else  but  unity  and  harmo- 
ny was  possible  among  Semites.  A  confederation  of  these 
Arabian  tribes  against  the  despotic  Chalifs  was  not  to  be 
feared.  The  Persian  Shiites  were,  so  to  say,  the  legiti- 
mists of  the  Islam ;  they  were  the  supporters  and  defen- 


34  THE   SEMITIC   NATIONS. 

ders  of  the  absolutistie  idea  of  the  Chalifate.  At  this 
tendency  of  the  Chalifs,  many  Arabian  tribes  withdrew 
to  the  desert,  and  the  Arabian  sectarians,  known  as  the 
Carraates,  formed  a  terrible  insurrection  against  the  Cha- 
lifate, defeated  its  troops  severely,  and  sustained  them- 
selves for  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  in  continual  war 
against  this  new  un-Semitic  Ibrm  of  government.  But 
even  during  this  time  of  despotic  rule,  the  Chalifs  still 
observed  an  outward  appearance,  at  least,  of  freedom,  in 
allowing  the  chiefs  of  the  people  to  confirm  the  heir  to 
the  throne,  whom  they  appointed.  Autonomy  existed 
among  the  Semites,  and  especially  among  the  Arabs,  in 
every  form  of  government,  even  during  the  greatest  des- 
potic rule  of  the  Chalifs. 

At  the  same  time  as  the  Abbasides  by  the  aid  of  the 
Aryan  Persians,  perfected  despotism  in  Bagdad,  while 
their  Vizier,  the  first  officer  of  the  state  was  no  more 
than  a  mean  slave,  the  plaything  of  his  master's  whims, 
things  were  altogether  different  under  the  Omayades 
and  among  the  Arabic  population  in  Spain.  Here  old 
Arabic  freedom  yet  held  its  sway,  and  the  Arabian 
chieftains  here,  as  well  as  the  rich  land  owners  with  their 
numerous  adherents  and  clients  cared  little  or  nothing 
about  the  Chalifs  in  Cordova,  did  not  seek  his  favors, 
did  not  mind  his  commands  and  defied  him  on  every  oc- 
casion. The  Vizier,  too,  was  here  not  like  that  in  the 
East,  a  favored  slave  for  the  moment,  who  trembled  at 
the  anger  of  his  master,  liable  to  be  hurled  from  the 
highest  pinnacle  of  his  power  into  the  most  abject  misery; 
here  he  was,  as  in  our  own  time  an  English  minister  is, 
an  independent,  free  man,  who  would  brook  no  insult 
from  his  sovereign.  A  Chalif  of  Cordova,  who  once  al- 
lowed himself  a  joke  at  the  beard  of  his  Vizier,  was 
obliged  to  hear  from  him  the  following  words :  Sire," 
said  the  angry  minister,  "  one  desires  such  a  post  as 
mine,  in  order  to  be  protected  against  insults.  Since, 
however,  I  see  that  I  expose  myself  to  it  just  by  my  po- 
sition, receive,  therefore  my  office  back.  I  can  well  spare 
it,  and  my  palace,  which  you  can  not  take  from  me,  is 
perfectly  sufficient  for  rue."  With  these  words  the  proud 
minister  left  the  confused  sovereign,  without  a  parting 
salutation.  The  sovereign  tried  his  be^t  to  reconcile  his 
offended  minister,  but  did  not  succeed.  Such  a  state  of 


THE   SEMITIC    NATIONS.  35 

things  obtained  there,  where  genuine  Arabs  lived,  -and 
there,  too,  the  Chalifs  courted  the  favor  of  public  opinion 
and  popularity,  by  mean-  ofpMftUklly  attached  friends 
and  client-s,  l>y  court  poets  and  court  literati  ; —  a  sort  of 
people  similar  to  the  venal  French  journalists  of  then«>\v, 
thank  God,  buried  Empire.  —  In  the  East  the  Chulils 
had  no  need  of  resorting  to  such  means,  for  there  the 
JVr.-iau  troops  of  Chorasan,  or  the  Turks,  took  care  by 
other  and  more  energetic  means,  to  preserve  the  authori- 
ty of  their  sovereign. 

e.  The  Semite  with  his  sharply  expressed  individual- 
ity was  on  that  account  never  absorbed  by  the  state ;  the 
idea  of  a  state  was,  with  him,  rather  the  modern  one,  viz, 
that  the  state  existed  for  the  protection  of  the  individual. 
With  the  Aryans,  the  idea  was  a  different  one;  even 
in  the  republics  of  the  old  world,  the  individual  counted 
for  nothing,  and  the  single  person  was  more  or  less  ab- 
sorbed by  the  state.  *Even  Plato  and  Aristotle  agree  on 
this  point,  that  the  individual  must  seek  his  highest  hap- 
piness in  the  state,  since  he  lives  only  for  the  state  and  is 
its  servant.  A  state  like  the  Spartan  would  have  been  an 
impossibility  among  Semites. 

/.  The  Semites  had  no  standing  army,  as  a  rule,  but 
a  citizens  militia,  which  were  kept  together  by  some 
common  interest  or  idea.  The  force  of  a  standing  army 
consists  in  the  complete  subjection  of  the  individual  sol- 
dier to  the  will  of  his  superior;  but  this  the  Semite  does 
not  do  ;  he  obeys  only  then,  when  it  is  either  to  his  ad- 
vantage, or  when  he  is  compelled  to  do  so.  Voluntarily 
he  only  submits  to  one  who  is  intellectually  his  superior. 
For  this,  reason,  Semites  very  seldom  served  as  mercena- 
ries, but  rather  employed  such  in  their  own  service.  In 
the  comparatively  rare  instances,  when  Semites  entered 
in  foreign  service,  it  was  not  the  individual  man  as  such, 
who  hired  himself  out,  but  they  went  as  a  whole  tribe, 
kept  together  under  the  lax  discipline  of  its  chief,  and 
which,  when  occasion  offered  itself,  could  return  home. 
During  the  first  period  of  his  reign,  King  David,  acting 
then  as  a  liberator,  employed  national  troops  only  ;  when 
subsequently,  however,  he  extended  his  military  enter- 
l>n~es  and  assumed  the  offensive,  he  was  obliged  to  em- 
ploy foreign,  and  evidently  non-Semitic  mercenaries.  The 
same  also  was  the  case  with  the  Maccabeans.  In  the  first 


36  THE  SEMITIC   NATIONS. 

times  of  the  Chalifates,  the  troops  consisted  of  Arabs 
only,  and  then  every  one  of  them  who  was  able  to  carry 
a  lunce  joined  in  the  combats,  but  of  course,  every  tribe 
together  and  under  the  leadership  of  their  own  chosen 
chieftain.  To  a  certain  extent,  each  individual  fought 
for  his  own  interest ;  the  more  cunning  ones  for  rich 
spoils,  the  less  so,  for  the  dissemination  ot  Islamism.  In 
subsequent  times,  however,  when  great  campaigns  were 
carried  on  for  the  personal  interests  of  the  Chalifs,  when 
the  questions  at  issue  were,  whether  Emir  or  Mamun 
should  be  the  Chalif,  then  the  war  was  carried  on  by  Per- 
sians principally  and  later  on  by  Turks.  In  the  compar- 
atively few  instances,  when  Arabs  fought  for  the  sover- 
eignity  of  one  or  another  person,  they  either  pursued  in  so 
doing  their  personal  interest,  e.  g.  that  of  a  certain  tribe, 
or  they  were  carried  away  by  a  momentary  partisan  pas- 
sion, and  were  soon  cured  of  it.  Thus  it  was  in  the  civil 
war  after  the  death  of  Chalif  Otliman,  when  Ali  and 
Moaviya  contended  for  the  supremacy,  and  caused  fearful 
bloodshed.  The  Arabs  then  soon  came  to  their  senses 
and  saw  that  the  personal  ambition  of  two  rivals  was  the 
cause  of  all  that,  and  fanatics  determined  to  kill  both  of 
them ;  others  forced  them  to  compromise ;  others  again 
left  the  army  on  their  own  responsibility,  declaring  both 
of  the  rivals  as  unworthy  to  rule,  and  maintained  that 
they  were  perfectly  indifferent  as  to  what  family  the  candi- 
date be  from,  and  that  even  a  slave  might  be  chosen  if 
personally  worthy.  Nay,  more,  some  even  maintained 
that  there  was  no  need  at  all  of  a  chief  for  the  state,  and 
that  a  ruler  may  be  deposed  and  even  executed,  if  he  be 
irreligious  or  rule  unjustly. 

g.  This  sharply  pronounced  individuality,  this  harsh 
self-will  of  the  Semites,  is  also  the  cause  of  their  many 
faults.  They  are  wanting  in  unity,  coherence,  harmony 
and  strict  order.  In  vain  did  a  Chalif  of  the  first  cen- 
tury of  the  Hegira,  exhort  to  obedience  and  harmony ; 
in  vain  did  he  preach  to  his  Arabs,  that  separatism  was 
the  work  of  the  devil ;  he  preached  to  deaf  ears.  And 
indeed,  how  can  one  expect  to  find  unity,  harmony  obe- 
dience and  order  in  a  race,  every  individual  of  which  is 
unwilling  to  submit  to  the  will  of  another,  and  is  acting 
only  according  to  his  own  mind?  National  coherency 
among  the  Semites  was  always  of  a  loose  kind  ;  a  single 


THE  SEMITIC   XATION8.  37 

tribe  kept  together  to  some  extent,  but  that  only  as  long 
as  it  was  small,  when  it  became  numerous,  it  soon  divid- 
ed itself  in  two  or  more  smaller  ones,  each  one  acting 
independently  of  the  other. 

h.  For  the  same  reason,  the  Semites  rarely  founded 
^n-;it  states,  and  when  they  did  so,  it  was  not  of  long  tin- 
ration,  the  coherency  of  the  individual  members  of  the 
sMte  !>cing  of  a  loose  nature;  each  one  of  them  being 
unwilling  to  be  absorbed  by  the  other,  and  rather  main- 
taining its  individual  independency  in  the*  State.  This 
is  a  natural  result  of  the  Semitic  character;  tough,  resist- 
ing masses  are  not  easily  knit  together,  but  where  one 
will  is  dominant,  there  alone  great  undertakings  and  the 
founding  of  great  states  become  possible.  The  Assyri- 
ans, the  Babylonians,  and  later  on  the  Chalifs  founded 
jzrcat  empires,  yet  in  doing  this,  they  did  not  destroy  the 
independent  lite  qf  the  provinces ;  nay,  more,  in  certain 
countries  the  national  Kings  were  left  on  their  thrones. 
No  one  ever  thought  of  a  centralized  administration  of 
the  government,  or  of  a  suppression  of  the  national  life 
in  the  provinces.  A  Different  procedure,  was  that  pur- 
sued by  the  Achaemenides,  by  Alexander  of  Macedon, 
by  the  Romans,  and  even  by  that  of  the  Sassanides.  De- 
centralization always  prevailed  among  the  Semites,  while 
among  the  Aryans  centralization  prevails  almost  to  this 
day.  The  Semites  could  never  subject  themselves  to  an 
infallible  Pope,  with  reference  to  whom,  ones  own  indi- 
viduality must  be  completely  given  up  in  certain  rela- 
tions. But  about  one  hundred  millions  of  Aryans  do 
this.  —  In  the  Vatican  reside  those  who  possess  a  vast 
knowledge  of  human  nature,  who  know  very  well  what 
they  are  doing.  They  know  that  the  Aryans  are  in  the 
main  susceptible  for  such  a  dogma,  and  they  are  right  in 
this,  for  the  Persians  may  serve  as  an  evidence  of  it, 
aiwm<r  whom  mainly,  although  Mohammedan,  there  ob- 
tains the  really  tin-Mohammedan  doctrine  of  an  infalli- 
ble spiritual  Head,  called  Irnaum,  to  whom  every  one 
owes  unconditional  obedience.  Among  all  the  Aryans, 
the  Germanic  tribes  are  those  most  like  the  Semites  in 
the  definitely  expressed  idea  of  individuality;  in  conse- 
ijiience  of  this  constitutional  forms  of  government  have 
more  stability  and  substantiality  among  them  than  among 
the  Romanic  tribes.  Autonomy  and  decentralization  is 


38  THE   SEMITIC    NATIONS. 

more  developed  among  them,  Protestantism  and  the  free-  * 
dom  of  religious  investigations  found  an  entrance  among 
them  mainly,  and  the  doctrine  of  papal  infallibility  found 
its  greatest  opponents  among  German  Catholics.  There 
are  other  traits  too,  in  which  the  Germans  resemble  the 
Semites,  e,  g.  in  religiousness,  &c. 

1.  To  the  faults  of  the  Semites,  which  are  the  results 
of  their  pronounced  individualism  belong  also  egotism, 
selfish  over-estimation  and  polygamy.  Further  more,  ava- 
rice, coupled  very  often  with  prodigal  liberality,  cunning- 
ness  as  an  outflow  of  their  sharp  intellect  and  its  tenden- 
cy to  subtleties.     As  an  outflow  too,  of  that  Semitic  con- 
stitution of  mind  is  their  acrid,  biting  and  piquant  satire, 
their  pungent  wit  and  cutting  irony,  by  which  Arabian 
and  Jewish  poets  of  the  middle  ages,  as  well  as  Jewish 
writers  of  modern  times  have  distinguished  themselves. 

2.  The  influence  of  this  sharply  pronounced  indivi- 
dualism upon  science  and  poetry. 

a.  This  quality  gave  the  Semites  the  ability  of  indi- 
vidualizing abstract  objects,  i.  e.  imparting  to  them  con- 
crete, one  might  almost  say,  a  material  form.  The  Semites, 
it  is  true,  were  not  the  inventors  of  the  Alphabet,  in  the 
proper  sense  of  that  word,  but  they  were  certainly  those, 
who  made  the  right  use  of  an  obscure  idea  of  the  Egyp- 
tians, elaborated  and  disseminated  it  far  and  wide.  It  was 
also  the  Semites,  who  invented  the  means  of  weighing 
objects,  and  of  measuring  time  and  space,  i.  e.  they  are 
the  inventors  of  weights  and  measures.  And  is  this  in- 
vention really  a  small  affair,  because  we  are  familiar 
with  the  conception  of  it  from  our  childhood  ?  But  those 
who  first  came  upon  the  thought  of  measuring  such  in- 
comprehensible things  as  time  and  space,  they  certainly 
made  a  grand  invention.  These  inventors  were  the  Se- 
mitic Babylonians,  from  whom  we  date  to  this  day,  the 
division  upon  our  time  pieces.  But  this  invention  is 
rooted  in  the  peculiar  facility  of  the  Semites  of  individu- 
alizing abstract  things. 

6.  The  poetry  of  the  Semites  is  more  subjective  than 
objective ;  when  a  Semite  describes  a  natural  phenome- 
non, for  instance  a  sun-rise  or  the  like,  he  tells  more  of 
what  he  feels,  than  of  that  which  he  sees.  The  easy  exciti- 
bility  of  the  Semites  makes  their  poetry  powerful, deep  and 
heartfelt.  The  lament  of  the  Semite  is  not  silent  and  re- 


THE   SEMITIC    NATIONS.  39 

flective,  but  like  most  of  his  actions,  it  is  clamorous,  one 
might  almost  call  it,  heaven-storming.  The  Semites,  as 
we  noticed  before,  have  hardly  written  any  epics  at  all, 
and  never  any  drUML  The  opinion  that  the  Song  of 
Solomon  is  a  drama,  I  consider  as  without  foundation  * 
An  individual  of  a  sharply  pronounced  character,  may 
well  be  able  to  depict  hU  own  feelings  and  affections,  but 
not  those  of  another  one,  for  to  do  so,  he  must  forsake, 
to  a  certain  extent,  his  own  individuality,  and  place  him- 
self in  that  of  the  other,  and  this  is  a  thing,  which  a  Se- 
mite is  not  well  able  to  do,  and  yet  for  the  creation  of  an 
Epos  or  a  drama,  it  is  indispensible  that  one  should  be 
able  to  do  so.  The  Jews  are,  therefore,  to  this  day,  poor 
dramatists,  with  few  exceptions.  The  great  lyric  writer, 
He'mrk'h  Heine,  was  a  poor  dramatist,  and  the  only  dra- 
ma which  Berthold  Auerbach  wrote,  has  no  great  merits 
as  such. 

3.  Influence  of  this  quality  of  the  Semites  in  religious 
matters. 

a.  The  Semitic  idea  of  Deity,  expressed  itself  in  ado- 
ration of  the  stars,  of  certain  spirits,  (called  gin)  •  and  in 
that  of  an  extra  mundane,  personal  God.  God  and  the 
world  are  among  the  Semites,  two  totally  different  and 
sharply  separated  conceptions.  The  divinities  of  the 
Semites  are  not  indistinct  forms,  but  sharply  expressed 
personalities,  as  the  Semites  themselves  are.  The  idea  of 
Deity  among  the  Aryans,  expresses  itself  on  the  contra- 
ry, in  Pantheism  and  Polytheism,  which  latter  is  noth- 
ing else  than  a  deification  ofthe  abstract  forces  of  nature. 
This  needs  no  demonstration  here  ;  but  we  must  call  at- 
tention to  one  point,  viz.,  that  a  nation  will  rather  modi- 
fy its  religion  to  make  it  accord  with  the  national  char- 
acter and  its  native  constitution  of  mind,  than  it  will  do 
the  reverse.  The  Mohammedans,  and  hence  Monotheis- 
tic Aryans,  inclined  as  much  to  Pantheism  as  their  heath- 
en kinsmen,  and  founded  Pantheistic  sects  kjside  of  Isla- 
misin.  We  call  to  mind  here  the  Persian/  Pantheists, 


*  True  to  my  Semitic  origin,  I  dare  to  differ  from  my  great 
brother,  the  Author,  in  this  one  instance.  In  my  own  new  trans- 
lation of  and  commentary  upon  the  Song  of  Solomon,  (which  is 
yet  in  manuscript  1 1  have  shown  conclusively  this  .poem  to  be  a 
true,  although  a  sui  generi*  drama. 

THE  TJUJJSLATOB. 


40  THE  SEMITIC   NATIONS. 

Halloy,  Sohrawerdi,  Gelal-ed-Din-er-Rurai.and  the  other 
numberless  Persian  Sufis,  whose  Pantheistic  doctrines 
found  entrance  chiefly  among  the  Persians,  and  found 
there  zealous  followers  and  even  martys  for  their  cause. 

6.  In  close  connection  with  the  Semitic  conception  of 
God,  are  their  theories  of  the  Creation.  Monotheistic  as 
well  as  polytheistic  Semites  conceive  the  Creation  to  be 
the  free  act  of  a  personal  Deity,  and  the  world,  which  i.s 
completely  separated  from  the  Deity,  they  conceive  as  the 
object  of  the  divine  Creation.  Among  the  Aryans,  how- 
ever —  among  whom  the  ancient  Persians  form  a  partial 
exception  —  Cosmogony  and  Theogony  flow  into  each 
other;  the  Creatioa-is  conceived  of  as  a  self  production 
and  self  developement  of  the  world,  with  which  theogo- 
nic  elements  are  more  or  less  combined,  and  which  ends 
at  last  in  Pantheism  and  Emanation.  Among  the  Semites 
the  Creation  is  a  xr'tacz,  creatura  among  the  Aryans  it  is 
a  ^>tWc,  natura,  or  geniiura. 

c.  Among  the  Semites  there  prevailed  also  a  fixed 
boundary  between  God  and  man  ;  for  both  of  them  are 
sharply  pronounced  individualities,  which  cannot  be  co- 
mingled.  Here  worship  and  divine  adoration  of  men, 
are  as  a  general  thing,  of  very  rare  occurence  among  the 
Semites.  Among  the  Aryans  it  is  just  the  reverse  of 
this;  for  with  them,  the  way  from  the  lowest  man  up  to 
the  highest  Divinity,  was  made  up  of  a  series  of  ascend- 
ing steps,  so  that  man  and  God  are  perfectly  confluent  : 
hence  the  divine  homage  paid  to  men,  whereby  it  may 
happen,  that  he,  who  was  yesterday  a  fellow-huntsman 
and  a  fellow-drinker,  tomorrow  is  adored  by  his  fellows 
as  a  God.  The  doctrine  of  the  Incarnation,  which  is 
most  intimately  connected  with  the  divine  adoration  of 
men,  was  and  is  widely  disseminated  among  the  Aryans. 
The  same  phenomenon  occurs  —  remarkably  enough — 
among  the  Mohammedan  Persians  too.  Among  these, 
the  doctrine,  that  God  embodied  himself  in  a  human  be- 
ing, became  widely  diffused ;  various  sects  were  formed 
whose  doctrines  are  briefly  expressed  in  the  words,  TAU- 
CHID,  i.  e.  the  becoming  of  one  with  God,  then  HOLUJL, 
t.  e.  the  indwelling  of  God  in  the  world  and  in  men,  and 
lastly  TASCHABBOH,  i.  e.  the  becoming  similar  and  the 
identification  of  men  with  God.  Ali  is  adored  by  them, 
in  a  measure,  as  God.  or  as  an  incarnation  of  God.  Sim- 


THE   SEMITIC   NATIONS.  41 

ilar  to  tins  it  is  related  of  the  Persian  sect  of  Raican- 
diyyah  in  Chorosan,  that  they  deified,  in  measure,  the 
Chalifel-Mimssur  —  who  is  well  known  by  the  not  very 
honorable  surname  of  el-Safah,  i.  e.  the  shedder  of  blood. 
They  called  him  their  "  Rehb,"  «.  e.  their  Lord  —  a 
name  applied  to  God  only,  by  other  Mohammedans,  — 
who  nourishes  and  strengthens  them.  The  castle,  which 
this  Chalif  erected  and  which  is  named  after  him,  they 
call  '•  the  castle  of  our  Lord."  Some  other  Persian  Mo- 
hammedan sects,  have  a  sort  of  a  mystical  divide  Penta, 
consisting  of  Mohammed,  Ali,  Fatima,  and  her  two 
sons  Hasan  and  Hosein.  The  doctrine  of  the  Imamat 
consists  in  the  belief,  that  the  saints,  to  whom  they  pay 
divine  homage,  called  Imams,  are  constant  divine  self- 
revelations  in  human  forms,  and  that  the  soul  of  every 
I  main,  goes  over  at  death  into  the  body  of  his  successor. 
Similar  doctrines  are  met  with  among  the  Buddhists. 
Aryans,  therefore,  coincide  in  their  religious  doctrines 
and  conceptions  of  Deity,  although  some  of  them  are 
Polytheists,  others  of  them  are  Pantheists  and  others 
again  are  Monotheists. 

d.  The  Prophet  and  the  prophetic  institution  are 
phenomena  of  almost  exclusively  Semitic  occurrence. 
There  were,  indeed,  holy  men  and  inspired  seers  among 
the  Aryans  too,  but,  with  the  exception  of  Zoroaster,  who 
certainly  was  not  free  from  Semitic  influences,  the  Aryan 
seers  were  altogether  different  from  the  Semitic  prophets. 
The  Aryan  seer  was  a  man,  who  brought  himself  into 
a  state  of  exaltation  by  means  of  external  or  internal  ex- 
citations, and  as  it  were  engulfed  himself  in  the  Deity, 
or  held  intercourse  with  him  in  visions.  The  Semitic 
prophet,  on  the  other  hand,  was  a  sharply  expressed  hu- 
man individual,  who  stood  over  against  a  similarly 
sharply  expressed  divine  individual,  with  whom, 
as  it  was  believed,  he  held  direct  intercourse,  negotiated, 
and  even  at  times  called  the  Deity  to  account.  The  Se- 
mitic conception  of  the  relation  of  their  God  to  the  pro- 
phet, was  that  of  a  king  to  his  favored  servant.  The  Se- 
mitic prophet  was  always  a  human  being,  who  sought 
to  obtain  the  good  will  and  love  of  his  God  ;  the  Aryan 
saint,  on  the  contrary,  was  often  regarded,  even  by  the 
Mohammedan  Persians  as  a  divine  incarnation  ;  and 
whether  he  was  Heathen  or  Mohamjpedan  Aryan,  his 


42  THE   SEMITIC  NATIONS. 

desire  was  to  be  united  to  and  lost  in  the  Deity.  The 
former  of  these,  the  Mohammedan  Persians  call  Tauchid, 
i.  e.,  "Union,"  and  the  latter  Fana,  i,  e.,  "the  vanishing," 
by  which  is  meant  the  vanishing  of  ones  own  personal- 
ity, and  its  absorption  in  the  Deity. 

e.  The  God  of  the  Semites  is,  as  was  said  before,  as 
sharply  an  expressed  individuality  as  is  the  Semite  him- 
self. One  consequence  of  this  is,  that  the  doctrine  of 
Fate,  to  which  the  gods  too  are  subject,  was  not  devel- 
oped among  the  Semites ;  for  the  Semitic  God  moves 
freely  ana  does  whatever  he  pleases.  So  too  has  the  doe- 
trine  of  human  free  will  found  most  acceptance  among 
the  Semites.  In  Mosaism  the  doctrine  is  strongly  insist- 
ed upon,  that  man  is  a  perfect  master  of  his  creations, 
for  which  too  he  is  fully  responsible-  In  Islamism  the 
Arabs  began  to  busy  themselves  very  early  about  pre- 
destination and  free  will.  Among  the  Mohammedans 
the  Mutoselites  were  the  chief  defenders  of  the  free  will 
doctrine,  and  orthodox  Islamism  modified  this  doctrine 
a  little,  but  did  not  deny  it.  Among  the  Mohammedan 
Persians,  on  the  contrary,  even  among  those  of  them, 
who  otherwise  were  inclined  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Mw- 
taselites,  the  doctrine  of  the  freedom  of  the  will  found 
little  favor,  but  that  of  fatalism  found  most  acceptance 
with  them  and  with  the  Turks.  The  individualism  of 

*  the  Semite  expressed  itself,  therefore,  as  much  in  his 
political  as  in  his  religious  life. 

/.  From  the  time  that  the  doctrine  of  immortality  be- 
came extant  among  the  Semites,  the  belief  in  the  contin- 
uous existence  of  the  individual  after  death  prevailed 
among  them.  Among  the  Aryans,  on  the  other  hand, 
this  doctrine  was  either  conceived  of  in  a  grossly  mate- 
rial way,  as  was  the  case,  e.  g.,  with  the  Greeks  and  Ro- 

.  mans,  or  as  the  Heathen  and  Mohammedan  Aryans 
thought  of  and  desired  after  immortality,  namely,  the 
vanishing  of  the  individual  in  the  All,  as  the  absorption 
of  the  drop  in  the  ocean.  This  most  highly  desired  aim 
the  Buddhists  called  Nirwana,  and  the  Mohammedan 
Persians  called  it  Fana,  the  vanishing.  The  Aryan,  who 
permitted  himself  to  be  absorbed  of  the  civil  state,  de- 
sired also  to  be  absorbed  by  and  vanish  in  the  All ;  the 
Semite,  on  the  other  hand,  who  did  not  allow  himself  to 
be  absorbed  by  t^e  state,  but  claimed  it  rather  for  his 


THE  SEMITIC  NATIONS.  43 

own  benefit,  he  found  no  pleasure  in  being  absorbed  by 
and  vanishing  in  the  All. 

g.  Still  less  pleasure  did  the  genuine  Semite. — whose 
blood  was  not  mixed  with  Aryan  blood,  as  was  the  case 
with  the  later  Syrians, — find  in  Asceticism  and  Monasti- 
cisrn.  To  the  first  they  found,  on  the  whole,  no  inclina- 
tion, although  it  did  occur  among  them  here  and  there ; 
but  the  last  they  utterly  abominated.  Self-denial  in  any 
way,  and  especially  the  denying  oneself  the  pleasures  of 
family  life,  this  did  not  belong  to  the  Semites.  "Thou 
%\  tit  eat  and  be  satisfied,  and  thou  wilt  praise  God,"  is 
said  in  the  Pentateuch;  to  fast  and  praise  God  was  not 
required.  "  Thy  wife  like  a  fruitful  vine,  thy  sons  like 
the  branches  of  the  olive  tree  around  thy  table,"  to 
"dwell  in  peace  under  his  vine  and  fig  tree,"  this  was  the 
wish  of  the  Semite.  To  have  many  children,  and  if  pos- 
sible many  wives,  too,  these  the  Semite  counted  among 
the  joys  of  life.  To  remain  unmarried  is  something  in- 
conceivable, almost  an  unheard-of  thing  for  the  Semite 
generally,  and  more  especially  for  the  Arab.  The  same 
was  the  case  with  the  Jews  until  the  latest  times,  and 
even  now,  too,  the  statistics  of  western  countries  show  a 
comparatively  greater  number  of  marriages  among  Jews 
than  among  Christians.  The  Semitic  Mohammedan 
knows  nothing  of  Monasticism,  so  that  the  Arabs  say, 
there  is  no  Monasticism  in  Islam.  There  were,  indeed, 
"  Xuhada"  among  the  Arabs,  a  sort  of  people  who  led 
a  secluded  life,  but  they  were  comparatively  few  only, 
and  as  a  general  thing,  these  few  too  began  it  in  their 
mature  age,  after  having  already  enjoyed  the  pleasures  of 
life,  and  often  in  excess.  It  is  a  very  remarkable  fact 
that  suicide  is  a  very  rare  occurrence  among  the  Arabs, 
who  otherwise  are  noted  for  their  bravery  ;  sober-mind- 
edness and  a  dislike  against  every  kind  of  self-denial, 
protect  them  from  such  an  extravagance.  Among  the 
different  Aryan  nations,  however,  although  acknowledg- 
ing four  radically  different  religions,  we  find  a  strong  in- 
clination to  Asceticism  as  well  as  to  Monasticism.  There 
are  ascetics  and  monks  among  Christians  as  well  as  among 
Persian  Mohammedans,  as  among  Brahmins  and  Budd- 
hists, too. 

A~  This  sharply  expressed  Individualism  of  the  Se- 
mites, which  does  not  easily  subject  itself  to  definite  order 


44  THE   SEMITIC   NATIONS. 

and  authority,  and  which  permits  no  imposition  of  ,-[>ir- 
itual  fetters  upon  itself,  this  Individualism  may  also  be 
the  cause  why  in  the  Semitic  religions  of  .Judaism  and 
Islamism,  there  are  no  well  defined  and  established  dog- 
mas, from  which  there  should  not  be  permitted  a  hair- 
breadth's deviation,  as  the  case  is  with  the  Aryans. 
There  are  indeed  certain  fundamental  doctrines  in  those 
two  religions,  from  which  dogmas  no  departure  is  allow- 
ed, e.  g.,  the  Divine  Unity,  revelation,  providence,  re- 
wards and  punishment,  but  of  these  a  general  acknowl- 
edgement qnly  is  required  ;  but  how  these  are  to  be  con- 
ceived of,  about  this  there  was  much,  indeed,  written 
and  disputed,  yet  they  were  never  defined  precisely,  and 
rather  left,  more  or  less,  to  the  individual  mind.  When 
Persian  (Aryan)  influence  became  very  powerful  at  the 
court  of  the  Chalifs  of  Bagdad,  there  were  attempts  made 
now  and  then  to  define  more  precisely  certain  of  these 
fundamental  doctrines,  but  these  attempts  always  met 
with  strong  resistance,  and  the  definitions  of  one  day 
were  rejected  the  next.  It  is,  therefore,  a  remarkable 
phenomenon,  that  while  we  find  thousands  of  books 
among  Jews  and  Mohammedans,  which  teach  about  re- 
ligious observances,  there  are  relatively  few  works  which 
treat  about  religious  dogmas,  while  the  very  opposite  of 
this  is  the  case  with  the  Aryans. 

III.  As  a  third  main  quality  of  the  Semites,  we  de- 
signated :  Depth  and  inwardness  of  the  affections  (Ge- 
mutJi},  quick  and  easy  excitibility  of  the  same,  and  conse- 
quently, receptivity  for  humane  ideas,  inclination  to  be- 
nevolence, quick  enthusiasm  for  an  idea,  exaltation  of 
the  mind,  of  an  idea  above  material  power,  a  more  spirit- 
ual conception  of  the  external  world,  and  an  inclination 
to  Idealism.  These  qualities  of  the  Semites  manifest 
themselves  in  the  following  phenomena  in  which  they 
sharply  contrast  with  the  Aryans. 

1.  The  Semites,  and  signally  so  the  Hebrews,  are  the 
originators  of  new  religious  conceptions  and  views, 
which  were  almost  unknown  even  to  the  most  cultivated 
of  the  heathen  Aryans.  The  religions  of  the  heathen 
are  based  on  the  idea,  that  the  Deity  is  very  powerful, 
and  is  able  to  spread  good  and  evil ;  it  is,  therefore, 
necessary  to  be  on  a  good  footing  with  it,  to  attain  which, 
various,  and  for  the  most  part  grossly  sensuous  meAs, 


THE  SEMITIC  NATIONS.  45 

were  resorted  lo.  Religion  had  the  character  of  a  com- 
promise between  the  weak,  help-needing  individual  and 
the  strong  help-spreading  Deity.  Religion  as  a  concern 
of  the  heart,  religious  inwardness,  love  and  resignation 
to  God,  the  idea  that  God  is  all-kind  and  all-merciful,  all 
these  are,  on  the  other  hand,the  products  of  the  susceptible 
and  feeling  Semites,  and  especially  of  the  ancient 
Hebrews,  to  whom  humanity  can  never  be  sufficiently 
thankful.  Religious  hymns  like  the  Psalms,  no  nation  and 
no  -ingle  literature  of  the  world  can  show,  and  they  could 
only  originate  among  a  people,  which  occupied  the  first 
piace,  even  among  the  deeply  feeling  Semitic  race.  The 
religious  hymns  of  the  Greeks  and  ancient  Hindoos, 
stand  in  relation  to  those  of  the  Hebrews,  as  the  wild 
flowers  stand  to  odoriferous  roses  and  lilies. 

2.  With  the  idea  of  Deity,   even    the  most   cultured 
nations  of  antiquity,  combined  only  the  idea  of  power,  at 
times  also  the  idea  of  Justice,    but   never   the  idea  of 
morality.     But  it  was  a  Semitic  nation,  and    this    again 
the  ancient  Hebrew  nation,    which  taught   humanity  to 
conceive  of  God  as  a  principle  of  morality,  as  the  very 
ideal  of  holiness  and  purity.     It  is  from  this  people   too, 
that  the  doctrines  of  morality  proceeded,  and    for   these 
we  search  not  in  the,  otherwise  so  highly    praised,  works 
of  classical  antiquity,  but  we  look  for  these  in  the  Bible. 

3.  So  likewise   the  humane   doctrines  of  exercising 
kindness  and   mercy  towards  the    poor,    the   oppressed, 
and  the  helpless;  of  treating   the  slave,    nay  even   the 
least  with  kindness,   these    blessed   doctrines   proceeded 
chiefly    from   a   Semitic   nation,    and — I    dare    say    it, 
although  anticipating  decided    contradiction — until  this 
day,  these  are  practiced  more  by  Semites  than    Aryans. 
We  do  not  wish  to  say  by  this  that  those  doctrines  were 
totally  unknown  to  the  cultivated  nations   of  antiquity; 
but  they  were  not  of  such  high    import  with  them,  they 
had  not  become  part  of  their  flesh  and    blood,  as   is  the 
case  with    those    modern    nations,    who    profess    those 
religions,  which  were  founded  by  the  Semites.  Searching 
in  the  classical  writings  of  antiquity  in  the  pre-Christian 
period,  where  do  we  find  the  precepts  of  Love  to  our 
fellow-man  ;  i.  e.  helping  the  poor,  the  suffering,  treating 
kindly  the  slave,  nay  even  the  beast  with  mercy  ?  In  the 
laws  of  Manu,  we    meet,  indeed,  here   and  there,    with 


46  THE   SEMITIC   NATIONS. 

similar  precepts,  but  along  with  these  we  meet  with  the 
most  cruel  precepts  against  the  Farias  and  the  mixed 
cash's.  That  even  the  foreign  slave  was  not  allowed  to 
be  mutilated,  that  the  killing  of  him  was  to  be  punished 
with  death,  that  even  the  beast  should  be  allowed  a  day 
of  rest,  these  the  Pentateuch  prescribes.  The  Mosaic 
precepts  of  not  yoking  together  the  ox  and  the  ass, 
whose  powers  are  unequal,  of  not  muzzling  the  ox  while 
threshing,  these  are  precepts  which  go  far  beyond  the 
endeavors  of  even  our  societies  for  preventing  cruelty  to 
animals.  Have  we,  although  we  are  Christians,  any 
precepts  like  that  of  Moses,  forbiding  the  distraint  of  the 
artisan's  tools,  which  he  needs  for  his  maintainance,  or  a 
precept  commanding  the  returning  at  night  of  the  bed- 
ding which  was  taken  for  debt  during  the  day  ?  * 

Even  in  the  Rabbinical  literature  of  the  middle*  ages, 
there  are  thousands  of  precepts  inculcating  brotherly 
love,  kindness,  and  mercy  to  the  slave,  and  even  towards 
the  beast.  There  are  in  the  Koran  a  number  of  places, 
where  the  giving  of  alms  is  spoken  of  as  the  holic-st  duty 
of  man.  And  how  do  the  Semites  practice  these  pre- 
cepts ?  We  answer,  more  zealously  than  the  Aryans, 
although  these  are  the  disciples  of  the  former.  There  is 
not  a  Jewish  congregation  in  which  one  or  more  benevo- 
lent institutions  are  not  to  be  found.  The  benevolence  of 
the  Jews,  of  Western  Jews,  is  almost  proverbial,  so  that 
unprejudiced  Christians  point  to  it  with  shame  at  their 
own  delinquency.  The  chase  is  an  abomination  to  the 
Jew  who  can  not  understand  how  a  person  can  have  the 
heart  to  shoot  down  a  poor  bird,  who  perhaps  just  went 
out  to  find  food  for  its  young  ones,  and  that  for  the  mere 
pleasure  of  a  few  moments.  Angling,  too,  the  Jew  is 
not  fond  of,  his  heart  aching  at  the  sight  of  the  animal's 
writhing  on  the  sharp  hook  in  its  mouth.  The  giving 
of  alms,  plays  a  great  part  among  Mohammedans  too, 
and  rich  Moslems  are  zealous  in  building  hospitals,  erect- 
ing caravanseries  for  travelers,  aud  digging  wells  by  the 
road  side. 

It  will  be  objected  here,  that  these  doctrines  did  not 
proceed  from  all  the  Semites,  but  first  and  last  from  the 

*  Some  but  not  all  States  of  this  Union,  have  made  a  law  of 
these  precepts.— Tr. 


THE   SEMITIC   NATIONS.  47 

Hebrew  nation  only-  To  this  we  answer,  that  however 
talented  a  nation  may  be,  it  will  distinguish  itself  in  that 
thing  only,  the  germ  of  \vhirh  i.s  to  be  found  in  the  entire 
race  to  which  that  nation  belongs.  The  most  gifted 
Semitic  nation  will  never  accomplish  in  art  and  science 
that  which  the  Aryan  Greeks  did  ;  but  these  on  the  other 
hand,  were  totally  incapable  of  accomplishing  that, 
which  the  Hebrew  nation  did  in  the  points  mentioned 
above.  No  nation  can  overstep  the  moral  and  intellect- 
ual bounderies  set  for  its  race.  The  germ  of  the  moral 
and  intellectual  talents  of  the  Hebrews  is  to  be  found  also 
among  other  Semitic  nations,  as  the  germ  of  Grecian 
talents  is  to  be  found  among  other  Aryans,  too.  And 
the  shady  side  too  of  this  moral  disposition  of  the  Semites 
is  manifested  in  the  blemishes  of  their  character.  Among 
these  blemishes  must  be  mentioned  a  sharply  expressed 
passion  for  the  female  sex,  which  passion,  however,  the 
better  part  of  humanity  would  not  put  on  the  shady  side. 
We  do  not  mean,  however,  to  say  by  this,  that  the 
Aryans  are  ignorant  of  this  passion,  but  only  the  Arab 
is  a  real  virtuoso  in  love  affairs,  so  that  a  mere  hearsay 
about  a  beautiful  woman  in  some  nomadic  tribe  is  suf- 
ficient to  kindle  him  into  a  flame  and  rob  him  of  all  his 
rest  and  comfort.  But  the  hate  and  the  vengeance  too  of 
the  Semite  is  as  mighty  and  strong  as  is  his  love,  and 
this  i.s  perfectly  natural.  Theavenging  of  blood  is  a  genuine 
Semitic  feeling,  and  although  this  is  not  altogether  un- 
known to  other  races  too,  still  among  the  Arabs  it  is  in 
a  measure  legally  systematized,  and  there  are  some  tribes 
among  them  among  whom  the  laws  of  blood  avenging 
are  traditionally  propogated.  When  an  Arab  meets 
another  stranger  Arab  on  his  journey,  they  usually  do 
not  mention  their  names  and  descent  to  one  another, 
lest  they  should  find  out  that  one  of  their  ancestors  killed 
the  other  one's,  and  so  the  avenging  of  blood  would  have 
to  be  exercised.  Mosaism  sought  to  limit  this  avenging  of 
blood  as  much  as  possible,  but  apparently  without  suc- 
cess for  a  long  time.  The  Semite  is  very  sensitive,  irri- 
table, violent  and  bitter  in  polemics. 

4.  Heroes  and  heroism,  war  and  carnage  are  the  sub- 
ject matter  of  the  heroic  sagas  and  epio  poems  of  the 
Aryans.  This  tendency  is  to  be  found  in  Homer  as 
well  as  in  the  Hindoo  epos,  in  the  Nibelungen  and  in  the 


48  THE  SEMITIC   NATIONS. 

Srli.ilmameh,  in  the  Northern  and  in  the  Slavic  epos. 
But  the  celebrated  hero  of  Semitic  saga  is  a  wise  man,  a 
prophet,  a  saint,  and  the  theme  of  it  is,  wisdom  and  piety. 
King  Solomon  hardly  waged  any  war,  and  still  he  is 
after  David,  the  most  celebrated  King  of  the  nation  of 
Israel,  and  that  because  of  his  wisdom.  National  tradi- 
tion relates,  that  God  once  appeared  to  him  in  a  dream, 
and  said  unto  him  :  "  Ask  what  should  I  give  thee."  And 
the  King  desired  neither  length  of  days,  nor  riches,  nor 
victory  over  his  foes,  but  said  :  "  Give,  therefore,  unto 
thy  servant  an  understanding  heart  to  judge  thy  people, 
and  that  I  might  discern  between  good  and  evil,  "  The 
fame  of  this  unwarlike  but  wise  King  spread  to  the 
uttermost  confines  of  the  Semitic  countries,  and  from  the 
far  distance  there  came  a  Semitic  queen  to  admire  his 
wisdom  and  try  him  with  riddles.  The  Semitic  King 
prepared  no  chase  and  no  military  parade  for  his  royal 
guest,  as  an  Aryan  King  would  do,  but  the  entertain- 
ment consisted  in  a  sort  of  an  intellectual  tournament. 
With  the  King  of  Tyre  too,  Solomon  kept  up  accord- 
ing to  Flavius  Josephus,  a  learned  correspondence,  in 
which  they  proposed  to  each  other  difficult  problems. 
The  great  heroes  of  Islam,  such  as  Chalid,  Jaad  ben 
"Wakkas,  Okba,  &c.,  who  in  the  space  of  a  few  years 
established  an  empire  as  great  as  the  Romans  did  after 
centuries,  only  the  names  of  these  heroes  are  almost  forgot- 
ten by  the  Mohammedans,  but  every  good  Mohamme- 
dan knows  well  the  names  of  those  who  have  transmitted 
the  traditional  religious  doctrines  called  Ahlu  '1  'Hadis. 
The  Ashab,  i.  e.  the  companions  of  Mohammed,  their 
successors,  and  the  successors  of  these  successors  all  of 
whom  propagated  to  real  or  pretended  doctrines  of  Mo- 
hammed, these  are  known  to  all.  Almost  every  one 
knows  the  great  teacher  of  the  traditions  Hasan-el-Basri, 
but  hardly  any  one  knows  who  Chalid  was.  Character- 
istical  of  this  tendency  of  the  Arabs  is  the  vast  number  of 
biographical  works  in  their  literature.  These  works  re- 
late principally  to  such  men  who  were  active  as  savans  or 
poets.  Every  large  city  and  every  province  possessed  a 
biographical  collection  of  its  notable  men.  But  a  learned 
Arab  of  Spain,  Ibn-Hazm,  in  the  12th  century  already 
expressed  his  astonishment,  that  the  inhabitants  of  Cho- 
rasan,  Taboristan,  Gorgan,  Kerman,  Rei,  <&c.,  who  were 


mostly  Aryans  ;  possessed  no  biographical  -works  about 
their  learned  men.  It  seems,  therefore,  that  these  were 
less  respected,  and  less  attention  was  paid  them,  than 
was  the  case  in  those  lands  which  were  principally  in- 
habited by  Semites. 

5.     The  founders  of  Aryan  dynasties  were  mighty  he- 
roes,  successful  generals  who  distinguished   themselves 
by  bravery  and  strategic  talents.  Even  in  our  own  century 
we  see  a  man  founding  a  dynasty,  whose  chief  merit  con- 
sisted in  his  being  the  greatest  general  of  his   time.     A 
highly  cultivated  nation  was  so  blinded  by  the  brillia/icy 
of  his  military  powers,  that  to  its  own  misfortune  it  made 
as  his  successor  a  relative  who  only  shared  in    his  name 
and  in  his  bad  qualities.  It  was  different  from  this  among 
the  Semites.     The  founders    of    their    dynasties     were 
as  a  rule  wise  and  holy   men,  or  offsprings  of  such,  or 
generally  speaking  they  were  defenders  of  some  real  or 
pretended  new  idea.  The  claims  of  the  Alides,  Omogaded 
and  Abbosides  to  the  Chalifate  were  based  on  their  near 
or  remote  consanguinity  to  the  Prophet,  and  on  the  ser- 
vices which  their  ancestors  rendered  in  the  dissemination 
and  support  of  Islam.     In  the  tenth  century  the  Alides 
succeeded  in  founding  a  great  empire  on  the  mere  pre- 
tence of  being  Alides,  and  thus  descendants  of  the   pro- 
phet Mohammed.    The  founder  of  the  Almoravit  dynasty 
in  North  Africa  and  subsequently    in  Spain  was  a  mis- 
sionary who  preached    Islamism    to  the   Berbers.     The 
founder  of  the  Almohade  dynasty  in    Spain,  was  a  saint 
who  preached  a  new   doctrine  concerning   the    unity  of 
God,  from  which  too  the  dynasty  is  said  to  have  derived 
its  name.      The   mighty  princes  of  the  Karmates  came 
forward  as  reformers  of  Islam,  and  in  this  way  attained 
to  dominion  and  power.     The  same  thing  took  place  al- 
most in  our  own  time  with  the  Wahabites,  of  whom  we 
have    recently    received    such    interesting    information 
through  the  English  traveler  Palgrave.     The  founder  of 
this  mighty  empire  in  central  Arabia,  took  up  the  sword 
as  the  disciple  of  a   reformer  of  Islam,  whose  doctrines 
he  wished  to  promulgate,  and  so  he  attained  to  dominion. 
His  descendants  too  to  this  day  profess  to  be  the  defend- 
ers of  a  purified  Islam. 

When  the   Chalifate  fell  to    pieces,  and  a  number  of 
small  states  were  formed  on  its  ruins,  then  most  of  the 


founders  of  the  new  dynasties  in  the  eastern  provinces, 
which  were  inhabited  by  Aryans,  were  either  proficient 
military  leaders,  or  former  governors  of  states  ;  but  in  the 
western  provinces,  which  were  inhabited  by  Arabs,  the 
founders  of  new  dynasties  were  principally  pious,  holy 
men,  and  those  who  defended  some  new  doctrine. 

The  union  of  priesthood  and  royalty  in  one  person  is 
something  peculiarly  Semitic ,  but  the  priest  could 
necessarily  represent  a  spiritual  power,  and  only  through 
this  could  he  exercise  his  material  power. 

6.  The  most  excellent  attribute  of  an  ideal  king 
among  the  Aryans  is  bravery ;  among  the  Semites,  on 
the  other  hand,  it  is  wisdom,  justice,  and  piety.  King 
David  was  and  is  admired  by  the  Jews,  not  because  he 
was  a  hero  and  freed  Israel  from  its  enemies,  but  because 
of  his  piety,  because  of  his  being  a  holy  poet,  and  the  po- 
etic author  of  the  Psalms.  Nay,  his  heroship  was  account- 
ed to  him  as  a  fault,  for  when  he  wished  to  build  a  tem- 
Ele,  the  prophet  told  him,  in  the  name  of  God :  "  Thou 
ast  shed  much  blood,  and  carried  on  wars,  thou  ought - 
est  not,  therefore,  to  build  a  house  dedicated  to  my  name, 
because  thou  hast  shed  much  blood  upon  the  earth  before 
.my  face."  In  the  books  of  Kings  it  is  mostly  recorded 
what  the  kings  of  Israel  did  that  was  pleasing  or  not 
pleasing  in  the  sight  of  God,  while  their  military  under- 
takings are  either  not  mentioned  at  all,  or  very  briefly, 
and  merely  in  passing.  The  Maccabeans,  too,  were  re- 
vered, not  that  they  fought  like  heroes,  but  because  of 
the  idea  for  which  they  fought.  So  Ali  is  revered  by 
the  Arabs  chiefly  on  account  of  his  great  piety  and  re- 
puted wisdom.  The  Arabians  are  much  like  the  Biblical 
historians.  They  too  speak  of  the  wars  of  the  Chalifs 
in  so  far  chiefly  as  these  were  waged  for  the  defense  or 
dissemination  of  Islam;  otherwise  they  record  of  the 
Chalifs,  that  they  observed  strictly  the  religious  rites, 
that  they  offered  regularly  the  canonic  prayers,  made  so 
and  so  many  pilgrimages  to  Mecca,  gave  much  alms,  es- 
tablished schools  and  hospitals,  exercised  justice,  patron- 
ized learned  men  and  poets,  and  made  them  many  rich 
presents ;  of  one  and  another,  too,  it  is  related  that  he 
was  himself  a  Shair,  Fasih,  and  Balig,  i.  «.,  a  poet,  elo- 
quent, and  an  orator,  etc.  We  have  already  intimated 
above  that  the  Chalif  was  regarded  chiefly  as  a  spiritual 


head  man,  who  actually  performed  religious  functions, 
e.  g.,  speaking  the  Friday  prayer  from  the  pulpit  of  the 
principal  Mosque.  The  same  did  his  representatives, 
the  governors  of  the  provinces,  in  his  name. 

7.  With  this  moral  tendency  of  the  Semites,  it  was  to 
be  expected  that  they  did  not  carry  on  war  from  love  of 
adventure,  bellicoseness,  love  of  fame,  or  for  the  sake  of 
redeeming  a  so-called  military  fame.      And  such   was 
really  the  case  ;  for  their  wars  had  either  a  practical  aim, 
t.  «.,  to  defend  themselves  against  the  enemy,  to  shake  off 
his  yoke,  or  to  obtain  spoils ;  or  they  had  an  ideal  aim, 
fighting  for  the  defense  and  dissemination  of  a  certain 
idea.     Warp«r  «e,  was  never  the  object  of  the  Semites. 
This  is,  also,  not  the  case  with  the  Aryans,  who  had  and 
who  have,  in  a  measure,  even  to  this  day,  a  desire  for 
and  a  pleasure  in  war,  which  is  often  for  them  not  sim- 
ply a  means  but  an  object  of  itself. 

8.  In  a  race  which  knew  so  well  the  value  of  its 
moral  riches,  it  would  be  natural  to  find  in  it  martyrs 
for  an  idea,  more  frequently  than  in  other  races.  %  How 

frandly  prominent  are  such  men  as  the  prophets  Elijah, 
eremiah,  and  some  others,  who  devoted  their  whole 
life  to  a  high  moral  idea,  enduring  sufferings,  persecu- 
tions, want,  and  misery  for  it,  and  in  spite  of  these,  pro- 
claiming that  idea  fearlessly  and  boldly  before  the 
mighty  ones  of  the  earth !  In  the  times  of  the  first 
Maccabeans,  the  Jews  were  the  first  and  only  people  of 
the  ancient  world,  who  were  ready  to  die  in  masses  for 
an  abstract  idea.  The  Greeks  had  absolutely  no  con- 
ception of  such  a  phenomenon,  and  none  of  them  who 
spoke  about  the  Jews,  failed  to  notice  this  remarkable 
fact,  that  this  strange  little  nation  was  sooner  ready  to 
die  than  violate  the  Sabbath.  When,  later  on,  the  half 
crazy  Caius  Caligula  commanded  his  image  to  be  erected 
everywhere  and  worshiped,  the  world  obeyed ;  but  the 
Jews  refused  to  obey  the  behest  of  the  emperor,  and 
thus  they  went  with  full  consciousness  into  inevitable 
destruction.  When  the  Jewish  delegates  came  to  Rome 
to  pray  for  the  mercy  of  revoking  that  edict,  they  were 
the  objects  of  derision  in  the  sight  of  the  court  people, 
who  could  not  at  all  conceive  how  an  entire  nation  were 
willing  to  die  for  a  metaphysical  idea.  What  the  Jews 
have  suffered  for  their  religion  down  to  modern  times 


52  THE   SEMITIC    NATIONS. 

how  many  thousands  of  them  suffered  death  at  the  stake, 
this  is  well  known  to  all.  The  Arabs  too  have  had 
many  fanatical  and  enthusiastic  martyrs  of  their  faith. 
Among  the  Aryans,  martyrdom  for  an  idea  began  chiefly 
with  the  introduction  of  Christianity,  preached  to  them 
by  Semites.  In  the  ancient  world  there  were  martyrs 
for  the  good  of  the  State,  because  in  other  respects  too, 
the  individual  was  absorbed  by  it,  while  martyrdom  for 
an  abstract  idea  was  a  thing  of  extremely  rare  occur- 
retfce. 

9.  The  subject  of  schools  played  almost  always  among 
the  Semites,  and  plays  even  to  a  certain  extent  now,  a 
by  far  higher  and  more  important  part,  than  among  the 
Aryans.      To  instruct  or  cause  to   instruct  children,  to 
disseminate,  doctrine  and  knowledge,  and  especially  to 
establish  elementary  schools,  is  regarded  in  Judaism  as 
well  as  in  Islam,  as  a  religious  duty,  as  an  act  well  pleas- 
ing in  the  sight  of  God.     To  receive  money  for  instruct- 
ing was  regarded  not  only  as  unseemly,  but  as  sinful. 
The  teacher  was  paid  only  for  his  loss  of  time  during 
which  he  could  earn  nothing.     Compulsory  general  at- 
tendence  in  school  was  introduced  among  the  Jews  dur- 
ing the  time  of  Christ,  but  two  hundred    years  before 
that  time  too,  there  were  elementary  schools  everywhere 
and  as  it  would  seem,  maintained  at  public  cost.     A  city 
says  the  Talmud,  which  has  no  elementary  schools  in  it 
is  to  be  excommunicated  or  even  destroyed.  It  is  through 
elementary   schools,  it  is    further  said  there,  that  the 
world  is  preserved.     Certainly  a  great  truth.     The  voice 
in  Daniel :  "  And  they  that  make  others  wise  shall  shine 
as  the  brightness  of  the  firmament,  and  they  that  turn 
many  to  righteousness,  as  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever  ;" 
this  the  rabbis  apply  to  elementary  teachers,  who  teach, 
of  course,  gratuitously,  or  nearly  so.     A  precept  of  the 
rabbis  is  to  honor  one's  teacher,  from  whom  one  had  re- 
ceived the  essential  parts  of  his  knowledge,  more  even 
than  his  father,  for,  say  they,  this  one  gave  you  your 
physical  life  only,  but  the  other  the  spiritual  life.     To 
this  day  there  is  actually  not  a  single  Jew,  who  does  not 
instruct  his  boys ;  and    the    congregation    provides  in- 
struction for  the  poor  and  the  orphan.     Similar  to  this 
are  the  views  of  Islam,  also  of  Semitic  origin.      At  a 
time  when  the  highest  personages  of  Europe  could  nei- 


ther  read  nor  write,  there  was  the  greatest  zeal  mani- 
fested among  Arabian  princes  and  private  persons  in  es- 
tablishing elementary  schools,  and  Medresen — a  sort  of 
middle  or  high  school — as  well  as  public  libraries.  At 
the  time  of  the  Chalifs  in  Spain,  there  were  many  pri- 
vate and  public  libraries  whose  catalogues  filled  many 
volumes.  The  learned  man  was  always  held  in  higher 
esteem  among  the  Semites  than  among  the  Aryans.  The 
oourts  of  the  Chalifs  of  Bagdad  and  Cordova,  as  well 
as  those  of  minor  princes,  were  the  gathering  places»of 
learned  theologians,  grammarians,  historians,  poets,  and 
literary  men  of  all  sorts.  The  potentates  manifested  the 
greatest  zeal  in  attracting  to  themselves  men  of  learned 
and  poetic  renown,  and  endeavored  to  captivate  them  by 
extravagant  princely  gifts.  The  salons  of  the  Arabian 
princes  and  magnates  of  the  empire,  during  the  flow  of 
Arabian  culture,  resembled  very  much  the  salons  of  the 
French  at  the  time  of  Voltaire,  D'Alembert,  Diderot, 
etc.  Nay,  some  Arabian  princes  themselves  sought  the 
honor  of  literary  fame. 

10.  A  beautiful  word  spoken  at  the  proper  time,  re- 
joices the  Semitic  heart,  and  many  a  death  warrant  has 
such  a  word  caused  to  be  revoked.     Arabian  historians 
have  many  an  example  like  this  to  relate.     A  beautiful 
passage  can  throw  the  Semite  still  more  in  an  intoxica- 
tion of  enthusiasm,  nay,  even   overpower  him  and  make 
him  feel  beside  himself.     When  a  new  poet  arises  in  an 
Arabian  tribe,  it  is  even  to  this  day  congratulated  by 
deputations  from  other  tribes  on  that  auspicious  event. 

11.  It  is  a  very  remarkable  phenomenon,  that  an 
imageless   adoration  of  the  Deity  proceeded  from  and 
maintained  itself  almost  exclusively  among  the  Semites. 
It  is  well  known  what  terrible  conflicts  took  place  be- 
tween image  destroyers  and  image  worshipers,  but  the 
first  succumbed.     The  Semites  too  were  originally  wor- 
shipers of  images,  and   among  them  too,  in  Palestine 
namely,  there  was  a  century  of  conflicts  between  the  de- 
stroyers and  the  worshipers  of  images,  but  in  this  case 
the  latter  succumbed.     Is  here   not  a  manifestation  of  a 
greater  ability,  or  if  you  choose,  of  a  greater  inclination 
on  the   part  of  the  Semites,  to   conceive  the  external 
world  spiritually,  than  on  the  part  of  the  Aryans  ? 

12.  The  idealism  of  a  nation  manifests  itself  best, 


in  its  desires  and  hopes.  When,  therefore,  we  read  the 
writings  of  the  Israelites,  a  phenomenon  becomes  salient, 
which  is  unique  in  its  kind.  What  did  this  people  de- 
sire, and  for  what  did  it  hope  ?  It  desired  and  hoped 
for  the  time  to  come  in  the  which  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth  should  seek  the  truth  and  find  it;  a  time  in  the 
which  all  nations  should  reforge  their  swords  and  spears 
into  sickles  and  pruning  hooks,  that  no  nation  should 
lift  the  sword  against  another,  when  men  should  not  ex- 
ercise in  the  practice  of  war,  when,  universal  peace  should 
prevail,  and  knowledge  and  insight  should  fill  the  whole 
earth.  What  did  and  what  do  the  Aryan  nations  yet 
think,  who  have  become  acquainted  with  the  Bible  for 
the  last  thousand  and  five  hundred  years  of  this  ideal- 
ism ?  Only  in  these  last  years,  when  the  fury  of  war 
had  soaked  the  fields  of  Europe  over  richly  with  human 
blood,  only  now  some  comparatively  few  noble  men 
lifted  up  their  voices  and  preached  that  which  Isaiah 
proclaimed  already  two  thousand  years  ago.  But  as  long 
as  there  are  men  to  whom  war  is  a  diversion,  and  who 
even  find  pleasure  in  it,  so  long  is  there  no  salvation  for 
humanity. 

I  have  here,  although  myself  a  Semite,  not  ignored 
the  faults  of  the  Semites,  but  pointed  out  also  their 
good  qualities.  But  in  spite  oi  this  bright  side  of  the 
Semitic  character,  yet  was  the  culture  of  the  Semite  a 
one  sided  one,  for  reasons  which  we  mentioned;  and  our 
civilization  too  would  have  been  a  one-sided  one  if  the 
Semites  alone  were  our  teachers  and  leaders.  Happily, 
our  culture  consists  of  a  union  of  the  products  of  both 
Semitic  and  Aryan  culture ;  for  our  modern  culture 
dates  principally  from  the  16th  century,  when  the  Bible 
and  classical  literature  were,  so  to  say,  discovered  anew 
in  western  Europe.  From  the  ancient  Israelites,  who 
in  a  spiritual  respect  occupy  the  highest  rank  among 
the  Semites,  we  have  received,  through  the  intervention 
of  Christianity,  our  daily  bread,  i.  e.,  pure  conceptions 
of  God,  and  the  doctrines  of  humanity  and  morality ; 
from  the  Greeks,  on  the  other  hand,  who  occupied  equal- 
ly the  highest  rank  among  the  Aryans,  we  have  re- 
ceived all  that  belongs  to  the  improvement  and  beauti- 
fying of  human  life,  i.  e.t  art,  in  the  widest  sense  of  the 


word,  and  science.  We  have  already  almost  reached  the 
intellectual  height  of  the  Greeks;  nay,  in  many  re- 
spects, we  have  even  overreached  it ;  the  above  de- 
scribed idealism  of  the  ancient  Israelitic  nation,  let  us 
hope  that  our  grand-children's  children  will  reach.  May 
those  whom  God  has  entrusted  with  the  holy  duty  of 
protecting  us,  care  for  our  protection  and  safety  in  ac- 
cordance with  existing  circumstances;  but  we  learned 
men,  whom  God  has  granted  the  mercy  of  being  able  to 
devote  our  entire  lives  to  the  searching  out  of  the  Truth 
and  the  dissemination  of  a  higher  culture,  we  men  of 
peace  and  science,  we  must  so  labor  in  work  and  in 
writing,  that  that  idealism  should  be  realized  when  man 
shall  make  a  sickle  out  of  his  sword ;  that  universal 
peace  should  reign,  and  that  the  whole  of  humanity 
should  be  filled  with  knowledge  and  understanding. 


